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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






LUTHER 



AS 



SPIRITUAL ADVISER. 



AUGUST NEBE. 
DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY, PROFESSOR, PASTOR. 



TRANSLATED BY 

CHARLES A. HAY, D. D„ 
CHARLES E. HAY, A. M. 

'^i OF CO/,;, 



€>,. 



29r&j-ClQsl 



PHILADELPHIA : 

LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 



\ 



V 






Copyright, 1894, 

BY 

THE LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



IT is hoped that the following presentation of the 
Leader of the Reformation as an untitled pastor, 
with all Germany for his parish, may not only 
serve to bring out into clearer view the wonderful 
versatility of the great man, and furnish a needed 
correction in the prevailing estimate of his char- 
acter, but may also indicate to some a much- 
neglected field of Christian activity in our own 
age, an age in which temptations are varied in 
form and multiplied in power, and in which the 
occupants of pulpit and pew too often plead the 
pressure of official duties, absolutely trifling com- 
pared with those of Luther, as exempting from the 
primary obligations of Christian brotherhood. 

The translation from the original has been, 
upon the part of the undersigned, a labor of 
filial love, the first pages having been prepared 
for the press by an honored father, Professor 
Charles A. Hay, D. D., of Gettysburg, Pa., but a 
few days before his summons to heavenly rest. 

(Hi) 



iv Translator* s Preface. 

Thankful for the privilege of carrying out the 
design of one who himself exemplified in no small 
measure the true pastoral instinct, we commend 
this touching picture of the past to the contempla- 
tion of the present, imploring upon it the blessing 
of the great Shepherd of Souls. 

Charles K. Hay. 

AW,ENTOWN, PA., JUI,Y 2, 1894. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



A NOTHER small contribution to the quadri- 
^~^ centennial birthday banquet of Luther ; we 
hope not an undesirable or superfluous one. That 
side of the Reformer's character which we try to 
present here dare not be merely glanced at, but 
deserves to be attentively considered. Here we 
may look down most deeply into his heart, for here 
the soul of his grand work reveals itself to us. 

Constant reference has been made to the sources, 
and, where it was necessary, the Latin has been 
translated into German, as this little book is meant 
to be intelligible to everybody. 

August Nebe„ 
Rossleben, September, 1883. 
(v) 



" 38ear pe one another's burUens, an* 00 fulfil tjje lato of 
Cijrifit/'— Gal. vi. 2. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Translator's Preface 3 

Author's Preface 5 

CHAPTER I. 
How Luther Cared for his own Soul 9 

CHAPTER II. 
How Luther Ministered to the Sick 31 

CHAPTER III. 
How Luther Interested Himself in the Forlorn. 57 

CHAPTER IV. 
How Luther Admonished the Erring 103 

CHAPTER V. 

How Luther Comforted the Mourning 137 

(vii) 



viii Contents. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER VI. 
How Luther Strengthened the Tempted 175 

CHAPTER VII. 
How Luther Dealt with the Dying 222 



CHAPTER I. 
HOW LUTHER CARED FOR HIS OWN SOUL. 

AN old proverb says : "Physician, heal thyself" 
(Lk. iv. 23). We know very well that not 
every proverb is a true word ; that, even if it con- 
tains a truth, -still it does not hit the point in every 
case. Would the Lord have acted worthily of 
himself and in a manner well-pleasing to God, if 
he, despite his finding no faith among those of his 
own family, had done miracles in Nazareth, or if, 
in view of the scoffing assertion: "He helped 
others, let him help himself, if he be Christ, the 
chosen one of God" (Lk. xxiii. 35), he had torn 
out the nails from his hands and feet and had come 
down from the cross? But this old proverb is and 
remains ever true in regard to the pastoral care. 
No one can properly advise and care for another, 
unless he has before-hand advised and cared for 
himself. He who wishes to help others as a physi- 
cian of souls, must himself first of all have con- 
scientiously used the true remedy. Therefore 
Luther, as a Spiritual Adviser, had first to care for 
his own soul. 

(9) 



io Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

There has been only One upon earth who never 
needed any outside help, who found in the depths 
of his own pure, devout heart everything that he 
needed for the true life : and yet this One, our 
Redeemer, in the darkest hour of his life said to 
his three chosen apostles : "Remain here and watch 
with me!" (Matt. xxvi. 38). However high, too, 
the Reformer stands, he yet often received great 
benefit from the counsel of others. As long as he 
lived, he remembered with the heartiest gratitude 
especially two men, who comforted his poor soul 
when, in the monastery at Erfurt, it was torturing 
itself with sins for the most part imaginary, and 
despairing of the grace of God, and who led it to 
him who so kindly invites to himself the weary 
and heavy-laden. 

An old, pious fellow-monk, whose name is un- 
fortunately lost, to whom he told his agonies of 
conscience, pointed him to that principal article of 
faith, in which it is said: U I believe in a forgive- 
ness of sins." He explained to him this article as 
meaning that we are not only in general to believe 
that some receive pardon, as even the devils be- 
lieve that David and Peter were forgiven, but that 
God's command is that every one of us individually 
is to believe that his sins are forgiven.* "Son, 

*Melanchthon's Vita L,utheri. 



Luther and his own Soul. n 

what are you doing?" said the venerable teacher 
to his pupil, who with many tears was deploring 
his temptations, "do you not know that the Lord 
has commanded us to hope?" "By this one word, 
'commanded,' " confesses Luther in his commen- 
tary on Ps. li. 9,* "I was so strengthened that I 
knew that the absolution was to be believed. I 
had indeed often before heard the absolution, but, 
hindered by foolish thoughts, had supposed I dared 
not believe it, but heard it as if it did not avail for 
me." 

The general vicar of the Augustinian monks, 
into whose order Luther had entered, the exper- 
ienced Dr. Johann Staupitz, gave further aid. 
This pious, practical mystic had looked deeply 
into the heart of Holy Scripture, as well as into the 
human heart. ' ' There is a great mountain. ' You 
must cross it' — the law says; 'I will cross it' — 
says presumption; 'You cannot' — says conscience; 
' Then I won' t attempt it ' — says despair. ' ' f That 
was a word from him that Luther could never for- 
get. Staupitz assured him that " Christ does not 
alarm, but comforts." "Why do you torment 
yourself with these speculations?", Staupitz once 
called to him. J ' ' Look at the wounds of Christ and 

*Op., ex. ed. Erlangen, 19, 100. 

f Tischreden. Aurifaber, 149, b. Forstemann, 2, 48. 

JOp. ex., 6, 296, on Gen. xxvi. 



12 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

at his blood shed for you; from these predestina- 
tion will shine forth." A casual remark of his, 
that only that repentance is genuine which begins 
with love to righteousness and to God,* remained, 
as IyUther himself expresses it, sticking like the 
sharp arrow of a warrior in his soul, and he found 
the Scriptures to be in perfect harmony with it. 
Through his Staupitz, as he afterwards liked to 
call him, he was liberated from the morbid con- 
sciousness of sin by the statement: "You want to 
be an imaginary sinner and to regard Christ as an 
imaginary Saviour. You must accustom yourself 
to think that Christ is a real Saviour and that you 
are a real sinner. God does nothing for fun nor for 
show, and he is not joking when he sends his Son 
and delivers him up for us."f Often, when he 
came with his self-condemnatory complaints, he 
was dismissed with the answer: u Magister Martin, 
that I do not understand." J " To Doctor Stau- 
pitz," thus Luther relates in his Tischreden,§ "I 
have often confessed, not about women, but real 
knotty questions, when he would reply: 'I don't 
understand it.' That was giving comfort rightly. 

*Briefe. De Wette, i, 116. 

flbid., 5, 680. 

% Tischreden, Aurif., 314, b. Forst, 3, 119. 

gAurif., 320, a. Forst., 3, 135. 



Luther and his own Soul. 13 

At last Dr. Staupitz began with me as we were eat- 
ing, and I was so sad and dejected, saying: 'Why 
are you so sad, brother Martin?' Then I said: 
'O, what shall I do?' Said he: 'Ah, you do not 
know that this trial is good and necessary for you, 
else nothing good would ever come of you.' That 
he did not himself understand, for lie thought I 
was learned, and if I had no temptations I should 
become proud and haughty. But I made the appli- 
cation in accordance with the saying of Paul: 4 A 
thorn in the flesh was given to me, lest I should be 
exalted above measure.' Therefore I accepted it 
as a word uttered by the voice of the Holy Spirit." 
Though Luther, already in the monastery, had 
made the experience that those of whom he hoped 
that they might understand his spiritual anxieties 
and sufferings could frequently not advise nor help 
him, this experience still did not prevent him from 
afterwards looking about for brotherly encourage- 
ment. He never regarded himself as all-sufficient, 
nor as highly lifted up above all others ; humbly 
and urgently he besought help in hours of trial. 
"On Saturday Visitationis Mariae (July 9th, 
T 5 2 7)i" reports Luther's most intimate friend in 
Wittenberg, the excellent Dr. JohannBugenhagen,* 
"Dr. Martinus Lutherus, our dear father, had a 

* Luther's Werke, Jena, 3, 403, b. 



14 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

severe temptation, like those we are often told of 
in the Psalms. He had indeed previously endured 
several such temptations, but never any so severe 
as upon this occasion, as he confessed next day to 
Dr. Jonas, Dr. Christianus and myself, saying that 
it was much more severe and dangerous than the 
physical weakness which attacked him the same 
Saturday evening at five o'clock; although he 
afterwards asserted that even this bodily weak- 
ness had not been natural, but was perhaps the 
same sort of suffering that Paul had endured from 
Satan, who had buffeted him (2 Cor. xii. 7). When 
now this spiritual temptation on Saturday morn- 
ing had passed away, the pious Job was concerned 
lest, if the hand of God should rest so heavily 
upon him again, he might not endure it. He 
had perhaps also an additional apprehension that 
our Lord Jesus Christ was about to call him home. 
He therefore sent his servant, Wolf, to me at eight 
o'clock in the morning, telling me to come to him 
in haste. As he said, 'in haste,' I was somewhat 
startled, but found the Doctor in his usual condi- 
tion, standing by the side of his wife, as he was 
then able to commit and commend everything to 
God with a calm and collected mind. He is not 
accustomed to spread his affairs before men who 
cannot help him and whom he cannot benefit by 



Luther and his own Soul. 15 

his complaints ; but he usually exhibits himself to 
people just as those wish to find him who come to 
him for comfort. If he is sometimes too merry at 
table, he does not himself enjoy it, and this cannot 
displease, much less scandalize, any really devout 
person; for he is an affable man, and utterly op- 
posed to all sorts of dissimulation and hypocrisy. 
But, to proceed, I asked the Doctor why he had 
sent for me. He replied : 'Not for any bad pur- 
pose.' When now we had gone up and retired to 
a private apartment, he commended himself and 
all that he had with great earnestness to God, be- 
gan to confess and to acknowledge his sin, the 
master desiring from his pupil comfort from the 
Word of God, as also an absolution and release 
from all his sins, exhorting me, too, to pray for 
him diligently, which I also asked him to do for 
me. Further, he desired that I would allow him 
on the following Sunday to receive the holy sacra- 
ment of the body and blood of Christ, for he hoped 
to be able on that Sunday to preach. He did not 
seem, so far as I could perceive, to anticipate the 
attack that befell him in the afternoon, and yet he 
added : If the Lord means to call me now, his will 
be done." 

When, in the same year, 1527, the plague broke 
out in Wittenberg, and in the parsonage the wife 



1 6 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

of the chaplain, George Rorer, became a victim of 
it, Luther took Dr. Pommer into his house, "not 
so much " (as he himself writes to Nicholas Haus- 
mann)* "on his account as on my own, that he 
may be a comfort to me in my loneliness." He 
joyfully acknowledges what consolation he experi- 
enced in the wonderful counsel of God through his 
guest at that time. "When, in the year 1535, the 
university of Wittenberg," he reports in the 
Tischreden,t "was transferred to Jena, on account 
of the frequent deaths, and I was deeply perplexed 
and sad about a certain matter, Dr. Pommer said 
to me : ' Our Lord God in Heaven no doubt is 
thinking : What more shall I do with this man? 
I have given him so many splendid great gifts, 
and yet he persists in doubting my grace.' These 
words were to me a grand, great comfort, and re- 
mained fixed in my heart, as if an angel from 
Heaven had spoken them to me, although at that 
time Dr. Pommer did not think that he was giv- 
ing me a consolation with his words." 

The Reformer desired not only the assistance of 
such prominent evangelical men as Bugenhagen 
and Jonas ; he was glad, too, of the aid of the lowly 
brother. When, during the Diet of Augsburg in 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 219. 
t Aurif., 328 a. Forst , 3, 159. 



Luther and his own Sold. ly 

1530, lie was sojourning in the castle at Coburg, 
he received every two weeks at the hands of 
the pastor residing there, Rev. Johann Grosche, 
the absolution and the holy sacrament. He ex- 
tolled so highly to his pupil and associate, Veit 
Dietrich, the consoling instruction of this plain 
pastor, that the former begged Rev. Grosche to 
make a collection of the passages of Scripture that 
he generally used in absolution for the consoling 
of consciences. Grosche did this, and Luther,, 
who afterwards saw the collection, was so much 
pleased with it, that he had it transcribed for his 
own use. For, in one's daily temptations, he de- 
clared, he had more than once learned in his own 
experience, how even the well-known passages 
often slip the memory and do not occur to one. * 

That he cares best for his own soul who is com- 
pletely immersed in the quickening and saving 
fountain of the Word of God, no one better knew 
than our Luther. We know what drove him into < 
the monastery ; he wanted to find rest for his soul.. 
What did he first seek for there? "When I went r 
into the monastery , " he himself relates, f u I asked 1 
for a Bible and the brethren gave me one. It was 
bound in red leather. I made myself so trior? 

* Porta, Pastorale Lutheri — Ausgabe von 1S42, § 392. 
f Ericeus, Sylvula. 174 b. 



1 8 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

oughly familiar with it, that I knew on which 
page and at what place upon the page each passage 
stood. Had I kept it, I should have become a 
splendid localis biblicus. No other study pleased 
me like that of the Holy Scripture. I read in it 
diligently and imprinted it upon my memory. 
Often a single passage of weighty import occupied 
my thoughts the whole day. The significant 
words of the prophets, too, which I still very well 
remember, kept me thinking and thinking, al- 
though I could not comprehend, them,- e. g., as we 
read in Ezekiel : " I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked," etc. 

The Reformer used the Scriptures for edification 
as long as he lived. God's Word was his daily 
food, and his unfailing weapon of offence and de- 
fence. Temptations often assailed him, not un- 
frequently taking the form of self-reproach for hav- 
ing published a doctrine of which the Catholic 
Church for a long while had no longer known any- 
thing, and of which in his day it would not admit 
an iota. Luther did not advance upon the track 
of a reformer with a flippant heart ; he was too 
faithful a son of the Church that ejected him. "If 
the devil finds me idle," he says,* "and I am not 
mindful of the Word of God, he causes me con- 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 12 a. Forst, 1, 36. 



Ltit her and his own Soul. 19 

scientious scruples, just as if I had not taught 
rightly, and had injured and distracted those in 
authority, and had been the occasion of so much 
scandal and disturbance by my doctrine. But if I 
lay hold of the Word of God, I am victorious, and 
can shield myself against the devil, saying : I know 
and am sure from the Word of God, that will not 
lie to me, that this doctrine is not mine, but that it 
is the doctrine of the Son of God. Then I defend 
myself further, by considering : What does God 
care for the whole world, if it were ever so great? 
He has established his Son as king ; if the world 
will not acknowledge him, he has yet established 
him firmly enough in his kingdom, so that they 
will not unseat him, but must let him safely abide. 
But if the world undertakes to dethrone him, he 
will overwhelm them and reduce them to ashes. 
For God himself says : ' This my Son ye shall 
hear ;' and in the second Psalm he says : * Be wise 
now therefore, O ye kings : be instructed, ye 
judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and 
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be 
angry, and ye perish from the way, for his wrath 
will soon be kindled.' " 

God's Word afforded him perfect satisfaction. 
He declares:* "I want only the Word of God and 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 11 b. Forst., 1, 36. 



20 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

do not ask for any miracle, nor desire any vision, 
nor will I believe an angel that teaches me any- 
thing different from the Word of God: I believe 
only the Word and works of God, for God's Word 
was sure from the beginning of the world, and has 
never missed, and I see in fact that things are 
going just as God's Word says." 

That a perplexed mind does not find much coun- 
sel or comfort from the church fathers, he learned 
already in the monastery. Only Gerson, among 
the ecclesiastical writers, he praises, and even him 
only conditionally. "Gerson alone," he says,* 
"wrote hitherto about spiritual temptations; all 
the others felt only physical or carnal temptations: 
therefore also he alone can comfort and strengthen 
consciences, for he has learned it through experi- 
ence. Yet he has not gone so far as to be able to 
give counsel to consciences in Christ through the 
Gospel; but he has made the pressing need or 
temptation tolerable and endurable by mitigating 
the law, saying: 'Ah, sin and death are after all 
not so very bad.' " 

One good piece of advice from Gerson, however, 
he heeded, namely: "that one cannot in any way 
better avoid and drive away the temptations of the 
devil, and the thoughts that he inspires, than by 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 310 a. Forst., 3, 106. 



Luther and his own Soul. 21 

just heartily despising him." * With all his heart 
the Reformer despised Satan, who tried to tempt 
him with all sorts of grievous and wicked thoughts. 
If he perceives that he is coming, he plays him, as 
he was fond of saying, f a merry trick. He begins 
to play on his lute and accompany it with a song. 
" One of the most beautiful and glorious gifts of 
God is music," says he. J "Satan is very hostile to 
it. With this one drives off many temptations and 
evil thoughts. The devil can't endure it. " Or, he 
opens the window and looks at the birds. We 
know in what straits the Church was lying during 
the Diet at Augsburg, and with what serious 
thoughts of dying Luther was battling at Coburg, 
having even selected the place where he was to be 
buried. But how he threw out of the window 
everything that burdened his soul, and drew new 
inspiration and fresh courage from God's free crea- 
tion! He comforts himself with what he sees, and 
is so consoled that he rouses up his friends in 
Augsburg || and Wittenberg with his exquisite 
mirth. 

"Grace and Peace in Christ, my dear Friends!" 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 322 b. Forst, 3, 142. 
flbid. Aurif., 311 a. Forst, 3, 109. 
J Ibid. Aurif., 577 b. Forst., 4, 563. 
|| Briefe. De Wette, 4, 12 ff. 



22 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

he writes to those at his home. * u I have received 
all your letters, and noted how matters are going 
with you. That you may know how we are get- 
ting along here, I inform you that we, namely, 
Magister Veit and Cyriacus and I, do not go to 
the diet at Augsburg; but we have been attending 
nevertheless another diet. There is a cluster of 
bushes just under our window, like a small forest. 
The rooks and crows have there assembled a diet, 
and there is such a coming and going, such a 
screaming day and night without ceasing, as if 
they were all drunk, roaring drunk: they are 
frolicking together, young and old, so that I some- 
times wonder that their voice and breath hold out 
as they do. I would like to know whether there 
are any of these stylish fellows and restless trash 
still with you; seems to me they have gathered 
here from all over the world. I have not yet seen 
their emperor, but the dignified chaps and the 
lordly fellows are constantly hovering and bobbing 
up and down before our eyes; not very splendidly 
dressed, but all of one color, all alike black and all 
alike gray-eyed. They all sing the same song, 
yet with a charming variety of tones, of the young 
and old, the small and great. They don't care, 
either, for great palaces and halls; for their hall is 

*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 7 ff. 



Luther and his own SouL 23 

arched over by the beautiful broad sky, their floor 
is nothing but field, checkered with pretty green 
shrubs, and the walls are as wide as the ends of 
the world. They do not concern themselves for 
horses and harness; they have feathered wheels, 
by which they can escape the rifles and get out of 
the way of danger. They are great, mighty lords; 
but what their conclusions are, I still do not know. 
But this much, however, I have learned from an 
interpreter — they are planning a powerful cam- 
paign and attack upon wheat, barley, oats, malt 
and all sorts of grain and corn, and many a one 
will here become a knight and perform great deeds. 
So we sit here in the diet, and listen and look on 
with great satisfaction, as the princes and lords, 
together with other estates of the empire, so cheer- 
fully sing and enjoy themselves. But it affords us 
special pleasure to see how bravely they swing 
their tails, wipe their bills, break down the hedges, 
and prepare to gain a glorious victory over grain 
and malt. We wish them success in their pilfer- 
ing — and would like to see them all together em- 
paled upon a hedge-pole! But I think it is just 
like the Sophists and Papists, with their preaching 
and writing. These I must have all in a crowd 
before me, so that I may hear their agreeable voices 
and sermons, and see how very useful a people 



24 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

they are, to devour everything upon earth, and in 
return display their impudence by way of pastime. 
To-day we heard the first nightingale, for it dis- 
trusted the early part of April. We have had 
charming weather hitherto; it has not yet rained, 
except a little yesterday. Perhaps it is otherwise 
with you. God bless you. Be careful house- 
keepers. 

"Martinus Luther, D." 
From the Diet of the Malt-turks, April 28th, ijjo. 

But a look out of the window did not always 
suffice. Then in some other way a game had to 
be played upon the devil, who ever tries to make 
sad and desponding.* 

" Dr. Martin Luther was at one time," we learn 
:from the Tischreden,t "low-spirited and depressed, 
whereupon he was taken out for a carriage-ride 
through woods and across meadows. As his com- 
panions sang spiritual songs and were full of good 
cheer, he said : ' Our singing mortifies the devil 

*The senior translator's work ends abruptly at this point, 
which happens to be the bottom of a page in the original. He 
here laid down his pen before retiring on the evening of Satur- 
day, June 24th, 1893, and on the following Monday morning, 
after writing a few personal letters, he was gently called away 
from scenes of labor to his eternal rest. 

f Aurif., 493 b. Forst. 4, 252. 



LiUher and his own Soul. 25 

and gives him pain. But when he sees us grow 
impatient and hears us moaning, he laughs in his 
sleeve, for he delights to plague us, especially if 
we preach and confess Christ. And, since he is a 
prince of the world and our sworn enemy, and we 
must travel through his territory, he exacts tribute 
from us by thus vexing us with all manner of 
bodily sickness and complaints.' " 

But, with all this, the devil cannot always be 
kept at a distance. He crowds upon one and be- 
gins to dispute. Then is just the time to play the 
wicked enemy a merry trick. "When the devil 
comes to me at night, ' ' says Luther in the Tisch- 
reden,* "to plague me, I give him this answer : 
' Devil, I must sleep now, for it is God's command- 
ment and appointment that we work by day and 
sleep at night. ' If he now further persists, presses 
upon me and charges me as a sinner, then I ridi- 
cule him and say : l Holy Satan, pray for me ! 
Dear Devil, pray for me, for you have never done 
anything wrong. You alone are holy. Go before 
God, and gain grace for yourself. If you want to 
make me pious, I say to you : ' Physician, heal 
thyself.'" 

The best weapon to employ against all trials and 
temptations is prayer; but L,uther, great man of 

* Aurif., 313 b. Forst. 3, 116. 



26 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

prayer that he was, experienced more than once to 
his sorrow that the spirit of prayer may forsake the 
believer. He understood, however, how to awaken 
it again and kindle it to a clear flame. "I am 
sometimes," he confesses,* u so cold and languid 
that I cannot pray; then I close my ears and say: 
4 1 know that God is not far from me; therefore I 
must cry and call upon Him.' I recall, on the 
other hand, the ingratitude and the ungodly ways 
of the opposers, the Pope with his cankers and 
vermin, etc., until I grow warm and burn with 
wrath and hatred, and then I say: 'O Lord, hal- 
lowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be 
done.' Thus my prayer grows warm and becomes 
fervent." 

By means of prayer he triumphed over all the 
sorrows of life and the terrors of death. In pray- 
ing he attained resignation to the divine will, 
the blessed peace of trust in God. When, in 
1527, that spiritual temptation and bodily weak- 
ness came upon him, from which he only very 
slowly recovered, he prayed, as Jonas relates,! as 
soon as he had regained consciousness after the 
swoon: u 'My dearest God, if Thou wilt have it 
that this be the hour which Thou hast ordained 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 315 a. Forst, 3, 120. 
f Luther's Werke. Jena 3, 404 a. 



Luther and his own Soul, 2/ 

for me, thy gracious will be done!' He further 
prayed with great fervency of heart the Lord's 
Prayer and the entire sixth Psalrn. When he was 
finally placed in bed, he began immediately again 
to pray, and said: 'Lord, my dearest God, O how 
gladly, as Thou knowest, would I have shed my 
blood for the sake of thy Word! But I am perhaps 
not worthy of such honor. Thy will be done! If 
Thou wilt have it so, I will gladly die; let but thy 
holy name be praised and glorified, whether by my 
life or by my death. But if it were possible, O 
God, I would gladly yet live, for the sake of thy 
pious and elect ones. Yet, if my hour is come, 
do as pleaseth Thee; Thou art a Lord over life and 
death! My dearest God, Thou hast thyself en- 
listed me in this cause. Thou knowest that it is 
thy Word and the truth. Exalt not thine enemies, 
and let them not rejoice and boastfully cry: 
"Where is now their God?" but glorify thy holy 
name to the dismay of the enemies of thy blessed, 
saving Word ! My dearest Lord Jesus Christ, Thou 
hast graciously granted me the knowledge of thy 
holy name; Thou knowest that I believe on Thee 
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one true 
God, and console myself that Thou art our Medi- 
ator and Saviour, who hast shed thy precious blood 
for us sinners. Support me in this hour, and com- 
fort me with thy Holy Spirit!' " 



28 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

The God of grace comforted him so richly in 
answer to his prayer, that he was able with cheer- 
ful confidence to bid farewell to wife and child. 
u My dearest Katie," said he,* "should our God 
at this time take me to himself, I beg you to be 
resigned to his gracious will. You are my lawful 
wife ; be very sure of that, and have no doubt 
whatever about it. Let the blind, ungodly world 
say against this what it will ; be guided by God's 
Word and hold fast to it, and you will have a sure, 
abiding consolation against the devil and all his 
slandering hosts." 

Presently he began again to pray:f u O, my dear 
Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: 'Ask, and ye 
shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and 
it shall be opened unto you,' according to this thy 
promise, give, Lord, to me asking, not gold nor 
silver, but a strong, firm faith; seeking, let me find, 
not worldly pleasure and joy, but comfort and re- 
freshment through thy blessed, saving Word ; 
knocking, open unto me. I desire nothing that 
the world counts great and high, for by such 
things I have not been made better by a hand- 
breadth before Thee; but give me thy Holy Spirit, 
to enlighten my heart, to strengthen and comfort 

* Luther's Werke. Jena, 3, 404 b. 
f Ibid. Jena, 3, 405 a. 



Liither and his own Soul. 29 

me in my distress and need, to keep me in true 
faith and trust upon thy grace until my end! 
Amen." 

He then inquired for his little son: " But 
where is my dearest little Hans?" When the 
child was brought, it smiled upon him. This 
did not break the father's heart, but, filled with 
the spirit of willing submission, with the most 
cheerful confidence in God, he said: "O you good 
poor little child! I now commend my dearest 
Katie and thee, poor little orphan, to my dear, 
good God. You have nothing; but God, who is a 
father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows, 
will well provide and care for you." 

The L-ord at that time heard the prayers of his 
servant and of anxious friends, and restored him to 
health. When, at Eisleben, the dying-hour had 
really come, and he felt the cold death-dew upon 
his brow, he commended his spirit in prayer into 
the hands of God.* u O my Heavenly Father, the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thou 
God of all comfort, I thank Thee, that Thou hast 
revealed to me thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, on whom 
I believe, whom I have preached and confessed, 
whom I have loved and praised, whom the miser- 
able Pope and all the ungodly dishonor, persecute, 

* Luther's Werke. Jena, 8, 385 b. 



30 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

and blaspheme. I beseech Thee, my L,ord Jesus 
Christ, let my soul be commeuded to Thee ! O, 
Heavenly Father, although I must leave this body, 
and be snatched away from this life, yet I know 
assuredly, that I shall abide forever with Thee, 
and that no one shall snatch me out of thy hands." 
In the days of health the Reformer had com- 
posed the noble Hymn of Simeon : 

"In peace and joy I now depart 

At God's will, 
Within are cheerful mind and heart, 

Placid and still : 
As God hath promise given, 
Death is but sleep to me .' ' 

Unremittingly, faithfully, had he cared for his 
own soul until the end, and the Lord, his God, 
therefore permitted him, when his hour was come, 
to depart in peace. 



A 



CHAPTER II. 
HOW LUTHER MINISTERED TO THE SICK. 

MAN who has himself passed through severe 
attacks of sickness and temptation and has in 
this school of suffering experienced in his own 
heart the comfort of the divine Word and the 
power of prayer possesses every requisite which is 
of prime importance in ministering to the sick, and 
the only question is, whether he is also willing to 
do that for which the grace of God has qualified 
him. In this willingness the Reformer was never 
found wanting. He recognized fully and deeply 
the duty of the Christian man to minister to his 
brethren, to be the servant of all men in the power 
of love. That which he had in the very beginning 
of the Reformation set forth in bold outlines in the 
excellent pamphlet, "Of the Liberty of the Chris- 
tian Man," he practically exemplified year by year 
in his intercourse with his fellow-men, and in times 
of need developed more fully and impressed with 
power upon the hearts of others. 

When, in 1527, the pestilence not only broke out 
in Wittenberg, but spread, with devastating power, 

(31) 



32 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

throughout all Germany, all who were at all able 
to escape fled from the infected regions, without 
stopping to think of their poor neighbors. Then 
IyUther grasped his pen, and, at the request of the 
excellent Breslau pastor, Dr. Johaun Hess, gave 
reply to the question: "Whether one may flee 
from death. n This question he answers at large 
and in general in the negative, maintaining that 
only he can in God's name take refuge in flight, 
who is perfectly free and under no obligation, who 
has no special duties of any kind to perform toward 
his neighbor, and who is convinced that the general 
duty of care for the sick and the dead will be dis- 
charged by others. "For in this way," writes 
he,* "we must and are in duty bound to deal with 
our neighbor in all times of need and danger what- 
soever. If his house is burning, love bids me run 
thither and help to put out the fire ; if there are 
enough other people there to put it out, I may re- 
turn home or remain there, as I please. If my 
neighbor falls into the water or into a pit, I must 
not go away, but must run up and help him all 
that I can; if there are others there helping him, 
then I am free. If I see him hungry or thirsty, I 
must not leave him, but give him food and drink, 
and not look upon the danger that I may thereby 

*Werke. Jena, 3, 394 a. Compare Briefe. De Wette, 1, 347. 



Luther and the Sick. 33 

be made poor or less respectable. He who will not 
help and assist another until he can do it without 
danger or injury to his own person or property, 
will never help his neighbor, for that will always 
appear to him to involve a loss, danger, injury or 
neglect of his own interests. It is well understood 
that no one can live in the neighborhood of an- 
other without danger to his person, property, wife 
and child ; for he must run the risk of a fire or 
other calamity reaching him from his neighbor's 
house, and ruining him with his body, property, 
wife, child and all that he has. If any one would 
not thus treat another, but would suffer his neigh- 
bor to lie in bodily distress and flee from him, he 
is before God a murderer, as St. John says in his 
epistle : ' He who loveth not his brother is a mur- 
derer;' and again: 'Whoso hath this world's 
goods and seeth his brother have need, how doth 
the love of God abide in him ? ' This is one of the 
very sins that God charges upon the city of Sodom, 
when he says through the prophet Ezekiel : ' Be- 
hold, this was the sin of thy sister Sodom, idleness, 
fullness and sufficiency, and no reaching out of the 
hand to the poor.' Therefore will Christ also at: 
the last day condemn them as murderers, when he 
shall say: 'I was sick, and ye visited me not.' 
But if they shall be thus judged, who do not go to 
3 



34 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

the poor and sick and offer them help, how will it 
go with those who yet further take from the poor 
what they have and lay all manner of inflictions 
upon them?" 

No reproach could have rested upon the Re- 
former if he had removed with the university from 
Wittenberg to Jena. He held no office in the con- 
gregation, but was a member only of the academic 
body, and its chief member at that. The univer- 
versity besought him to remain attached to it. 
The reigning prince, the Elector John, urged him 
in a special letter on the ioth of August,* to settle 
with his wife and child in Jena, as he could not be 
spared at the university there in view of what was 
daily occurring in matters of the divine Word and 
sacraments. But he remained inexorable, regard- 
ing it as his sacred duty to stay in Wittenberg and 
assist Bugenhagen in the sorely afflicted congrega- 
tion, a decision which is the more highly to be ap- 
plauded, as the first cases of death from pestilence 
— eighteen in number — all occurred in his imme- 
diate neighborhood, near the Elster gate.f 

What did Luther then do during the pestilence ? 
He himself tells us in the writing above referred to: 
"Whether one may flee from death." % "I deem 

* Burckhardt, Luther's Briefwechsel, s. 119. 
fBriefe. De Wette, 3, 191. 
JWerke. Jena, 3, 397 b. 



Luther and the Sick. 35 

it proper, therefore, to present at the same time 
some brief instruction as to how one should minis- 
ter to the spiritual wants of the people in the midst 
of such frequent deaths, just as we have also done 
and daily do the same by word of mouth from the 
pulpit, in order that we, who are called to have 
the care of souls, may fulfil our office. In the first 
place, one should exhort the people to go to church 
and listen to the preaching, in order that they may 
learn the Word of God, which teaches how they 
ought to live and die. It should be kept in mind 
that those who are so rude and reckless as to de- 
spise God's Word when they are in health, should 
likewise be left to themselves in their sickness, 
unless they manifest sorrow and penitence with 
great earnestness, with tears and laments. For if 
any one chooses to live like a heathen or a dog, 
and shows no public sorrow for it, to him will we 
also not administer the sacrament, nor accept him 
as among the number of Christians ; let him die as 
he has lived, and take heed to himself, for we are 
not to cast our pearls before swine, nor to give that 
which is holy unto the dogs. In the second place, 
the people should be exhorted that each one lay 
hold in time and prepare himself for death by con- 
fessing and receiving the sacrament once in every 
week or fortnight, that he become reconciled to his 



36 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

neighbor, and make his will, in order that, should 
the Lord call for him, and he be suddenly over- 
taken, before the pastor or chaplain can reach him, 
he may nevertheless have provided for his soul and 
not have neglected it, but commended it to God. 
In the third place, should any one desire to see the 
chaplain or pastor, the latter should be summoned 
or notified in time and at the beginning of the at- 
tack, before the disease has gained control, and 
while sense and reason still remain." 

This instruction from the pulpit did not, of 
course, satisfy the godly man. When the pesti- 
lence then for the first time, and afterwards in 
1535 and 1539, appeared and claimed its victims, 
he went out among the plague-stricken upon the 
streets and in the houses. He concerned himself 
most faithfully in their behalf, and did not hesi- 
tate to touch them, and to take them when dying 
in his arms that the last struggle might be less 
severe. Luther at one time spoke at table * of the 
death of Dr. Sebald and his wife, whom he had 
inspected, visited, lifted and handled in their sick- 
ness, and said that they both died more from 
anxiety than from the pestilence. To his beloved 

*Aurif., 493 b. Forst, 4, 251. Sebald Miinsterer died in the 
night between the 25th and the 26th of October, 1539. Com- 
pare Briefe. De Wette, 5, 218. 



Luther and the Sick. 37 

Spalatin he writes on the 19th of August, 1527:* 
u To-day we buried the wife of Tilo Dene (the 
burgomaster of Wittenberg), who yesterday died 
almost in my arms, and this was the first death in 
the central part of the city." He took the four 
orphaued children of Sebald into his own house, 
whereupon "some criticised him as tempting God. 
4 Yes,' said he, 'I had fine masters, who taught 
what it is to tempt God.' "f 

But Luther was very far from tempting God : 
he does not disdain, indeed, in his little writing : 
"Whether one may nee from death," to recom- 
mend all kinds of measures against contagion. 
"Not so, my friend," cries he to him who says : 
" If God wishes to protect the city, He will surely 
do it without waiting for us to pour water on the 
fire, "J "that is poor reasoning ; but use medicine, 
employ all means that can help you, fumigate 
house, yard and alleys, avoid also infected persons 
and places, when your neighbor does not need you 
or has recovered, and conduct yourself like one 
who would gladly help to put out a common fire. 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 191. Compare Tischreden, Aurif., 
276 a. Forst, 2, 441. 

f Tischreden. Aurif., 493 b. Forst., 4, 251. Briefe, De 
Wette, 5, 219. 

JWerke. Jena., 3, 396 b. 



38 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

For what else is the pestilence but a tire, which 
devours not wood and straw, but the body and the 
life? This is the way you should reason : 'Well, 
the enemy has by God's decree sent in among 
us poison and deadly spawn. I will, therefore, 
implore God to be gracious to us and protect us. 
Afterwards, I will also fumigate, help to purify the 
air, give and take medicine, avoid infected places 
and persons where I am not needed, in order that 
I may not suffer harm myself, and, besides, poison 
and infect through my person many others and 
thus through my neglect be the occasion of their 
death.' " 

Luther's own house did not entirely escape in 
1527. On November 1st of that year he reports to 
his friend Amsdorf:* "It begins to look like a 
hospital at our house. Hannah, the wife of Augus- 
tinus (Schurf, a physician, whom Luther had taken 
into his home) had a touch of the prevailing dis- 
ease, but is up again. Margaret Mochin (a woman 
from Mochau, who also lived with him) alarmed 
us with a suspicious boil and other symptoms, but 
she is recovering. I feel very much concerned 
about my Katie, who is in a delicate condition, for 
my little son has also been sick for three days, eats 
nothing and feels badly; they say it came from 

* Briefe. De Wette, 3, 217. 



Luther and the Sick. 39 

teething." But God held a protecting hand over 
Luther and his family. That which he had written 
on the 19th of August to Spalatin:* "Only Pom- 
mer and I are therefore here with the chaplains; 
but Christ is here, so that we are not alone, and he 
will triumph in us over that old Serpent, the mur- 
derer of men, however sorely the latter may bruise 
his heel," was really experienced. "Thus we 
have," writes he in the letter to Amsdorf,f "fight- 
ings without and terrors within, and very severe at 
that ; Christ is afnicting us. The only consolation 
that we have, with which to oppose the raging 
Satan, is this, that we at least have God's Word, 
to save the souls of believers, even if the devil 
does devour their bodies." 

But not only in such very peculiarly trying 
times did the Reformer actively engage in extend- 
ing temporal and spiritual aid to the sick. He 
always had a heart to feel for the sick, and through 
his whole life cheerfully ministered to their wants. 
He regarded the visits of the spiritual adviser just 
as much to be desired and as necessary as the visits 
of the physician, for he was thoroughly convinced 
that very many bodily diseases have their origin in 
a morbid spiritual condition. Upon one occasion, 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 192. 

|Ibid., 3, 217. 



4-0 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

when he was informed of the weakness of a certain 
noted man, he said:* u That is a result of sorrow, 
which is often a cause of such disorders; for when 
the heart is troubled and sorrowful, then follows 
also weakness of the body. The diseases of the 
heart are the real diseases, such as sorrow, tempta- 
tions, etc. I am a real Lazarus, thoroughly tried 
by sickness." 

That no other spiritual condition can be created 
by the use of medicines, but that God's Word is 
the only means of help and healing, he also knew 
full well. "The physicians," said he once at ta- 
ble^ "consider in diseases only the causas natur- 
ales, whence and from what natural causes a dis- 
ease comes, and try to give help with their medi- 
cine, and they do right ; but they do not see that 
the devil often hurls a disease upon a person, when 
there are no causas naturales. There must there- 
fore be a higher kind of medicine here, to ward off 
the devil's pestilence, namely, faith and prayer, and 
the seeking of spiritual remedies in God's Word. 
For this purpose, the 31st Psalm is, for example, 
very suitable, in which David says: ' My time is in 
thy hands.' This passage I have now in my sick- 
ness learned to understand, and will improve it in 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 492 a. Forst., 4, 246. 
flbid. Aurif., 494 a. Forst., 4, 253. 



Luther and the Sick. 41 

future editions of the Psalter. In the first transla- 
tion I have applied it only to the hour of death; 
but I will make it read: 'My time is in thy hands 
— my whole life, all my days, all the hours and 
moments of my life; my health, my happiness, 
life and accident, sickness, death, sorrow — this is 
all in thy hand.' " 

One of his household thus describes to us the 
method which Luther employed in his visits to 
the sick :* " When Dr. Martin Luther approached 
any sick person, whom he visited in time of bodily 
weakness, he conversed with him in a very 
friendly way, bent down over him and inquired in 
the first place about his sickness, what his ail- 
ment was, how long he had been weak, what 
physician he had employed, and what kind of 
medicine had been given him. Afterwards, he 
began to inquire whether in this bodily weakness 
he had been patient before God. When he had 
now learned, how the sick man had borne himself 
in his weakness, and what was his disposition 
towards God, if it appeared that he was determined 
to bear his sickness patiently, because it had been 
sent upon him by the gracious and fatherly will 
of God, and that he acknowledged himself to have 
well deserved this affliction by his sins, and was 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 494 a. Forst., 4, 254. 



42 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

prepared to die willingly, if it should so please 
God; thereupon the Doctor began highly to praise 
such Christian resolution and purpose as a work 
wrought by the Holy Spirit, and declared with 
exultation that it is a great mercy of God when 
one attains in this life to the true knowledge 
of God and believes on Jesus Christ, our only 
Saviour, and can submit his will to the will of 
God. He then exhorted the sick to continue 
steadfast in such faith by the help of the Holy 
Spirit, and offered to pray diligently to God in his 
behalf. If upon this the sick began to thank the 
Doctor and to declare that they had not deserved to 
be visited by him, he was accustomed to reply 
that that was his office and his duty, and that 
they had no need to thank him for it. As he bade 
them farewell he kindly counseled them to fear 
nothing, reminding them that God was their gra- 
cious God and father, in confirmation of which he 
had given them good testimonials and seals in his 
Word and sacraments, and that, in order that we 
poor sinners might be delivered from the devil and 
from hell, the Son of God had willingly given Him- 
self to death for us and reconciled us to God." 

We are enabled, further, ■ to follow Luther to 
several separate beds of sickness, and we do so 
gladly, because only thus will his method and 



Luther and the Sick. 43 

manner become clearly perceptible. To the widow 
Felicitas, of Selmenitz, who had for his sake moved 
to Wittenberg and was there lying sick, he thus 
offered consolation.* "We have waited far too 
long, if we only now, in the last hour of need, 
would learn to know Christ. He has come to us 
in our baptism, and has been with us, and has 
kindly made a bridge for us, upon which we may 
cross from this life through death to the life be- 
yond. This you must most firmly believe." 

11 At Torgau," we read in the Tischreden,f u he 
visited a chancery-clerk, a pious, industrious man, 
who lay sick with dropsy, comforted him, and 
counseled him not to let himself be troubled on 
account of this his sickness, nor to afflict himself 
yet further with sadness, but to follow the in- 
structions of his physicians, in order that the bless- 
ing of God might not be hindered by anxiety and 
grief — for, as a common proverb has it, ' Good 
cheer is half the body,' i. e., if the heart is cheer- 
ful, the body will not suffer — and to follow the 
advice of St. Peter, and commend his soul to the 
faithful Creator. 'We ought to be glad to die,' 
said he, ' for we have had enough of life for our- 
selves; only we must live yet a while for the sake 
of others!' " 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 331 a. Forst, 3, 169. 
f Aurif., 325 b. Forst, 3, 152. 



44 Ltither as Spiritual Adviser. 

u Doctor Martin L,uther," we learn again, * "vis- 
ited and administered comfort to a woman, who 
had had a great longing to see him, but who suf- 
fered from a very grievous complaint and had 
passed through horrible paroxysms. No physician 
could give her counsel or help, for it was a pure 
work of the devil, an unnatural thing caused by 
terror at an apparition of the devil, who had as- 
sailed her in the form of a calf until she fainted 
away in a dead swoon. Several days afterward 
great terror and trembling came upon her, and she 
had four paroxysms, each lasting three or four 
hours, in which she fell prostrate upon the earth 
and fainted away, so that it was necessary to arouse 
her with cordials and cooling applications, and she 
became so very sick in consequence that she could 
hardly draw her breath. She would clasp her 
hands together, gaze steadily up towards heaven 
and sigh. Her hands and feet were so bowed by 
the cramp that they looked like horns, and were 
quite cold. Her tongue was parched and dry. 
Her whole body was even lifted quite up into the 
air and cast down again. In the midst of this ter- 
rible attack, she lifted up her eyes, which appeared 
as though heavy with sleep, and said : ' O, what a 
load I have had to bear! Take off this heavy 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 322 b. f. Forst., 3, 142 f. 



Luther and the Sick. 45 

stone!' As she was thus speaking, she saw Dr. 
Martin Luther standing before her bed. At this 
she was greatly rejoiced, sat up, welcomed him, 
and said: 'Ah! my dear Father in Christ, pray to 
God for me!' and fell back again upon the bed, 
saying: 'I am still so full of sleep.' Then said 
Dr. Martin Luther: 'Devil, may God command 
thee to let alone this, the creature and creation of 
his own divine hand,' and, turning to those who 
had come with him, he said: 'She is vexed in 
body by the devil, but her soul is blessed and will 
be preserved; therefore let us thank God and pray 
for her.' He then prayed aloud the Lord's Prayer, 
concluding finally with these words: 'Lord God, 
Heavenly Father, who hast commanded us and 
those who are sick to pray, we beseech Thee 
through Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, to deliver this 
thy handmaiden from her sickness and from the 
bonds of the devil! Wilt Thou not, in fatherly 
compassion, dear God, spare her soul, which Thou 
hast, together with her body, by the shedding of 
the blood of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, purchased 
and saved from sin, death and the power of the 
devil ?' To this the sick woman responded, 'Amen,' 
and then said to Dr. Luther: ' O, dear Father, 
pray to God for me, that I may continue in union 
with the Lord Christ, whom thon hast so faith- 



46 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

fully preached to me, and who is my only comfort 
and my life; although he scourges now, he does it 
that I may become humble, but not that I may 
thereby be lost. But O, dear Lord Christ, give me 
patience and the knowledge of my sins!' Then 
Dr. Martin Luther comforted her with the Word 
of God, and said that she ought to acknowledge 
this paternal will of God and commend herself to 
him, for our Lord God is accustomed to scourge 
his dear children, in order that their spirits may be 
saved. The woman then made a noble confession 
of her faith, uttered a beautiful prayer of thanks- 
giving, and said : ( I have been proud and haughty; 
I have devoted more attention to the adornment of 
my body than to the hearing of God's Word; the 
preaching to which I have listened went in at one 
ear and out again at the other. But now I am in 
the right school, and God is preaching to me; 
therefore, dear Lord God, help for the sake of thy 
Son!' She gave utterance to many more such 
noble w r ords, and said that when lying in the 
paroxysms she felt nothing and heard nothing, but 
only rested as though in a deep sleep and as though 
she were bearing a heavy burden, and that when 
consciousness returned she felt very tired in all her 
members. Upon the night following the visit of 
Dr. Martin Luther, she enjoyed a quiet rest. 



Luther and the Sick. 47 

Afterwards, however, the infirmity returned again, 
but she was at length graciously delivered from it." 

The peculiar skill of the Reformer in minister- 
ing to the sick was known far and wide, and he 
was in consequence very frequently requested by 
such, if he could not visit them in person, at least 
to send to them counsel and consolation in writ- 
ing. We present the three following, as speci- 
mens of the letters written in response to such 
requests. 

To his old friend, the Mansfeld councilor, 
Johaun Riihel, he whites ;* "Grace and Peace in 
Christ, and with these, as ever, Life and Comfort. 
My dear and honored Doctor, my dear kind 
Sponsor and Relative. Your affliction occasions 
me the most heartfelt sorrow, especially as I have 
learned from the letter of your son Justus, that you 
find it so hard to bear. But surely you are, as 
well as we, a friend, member and confessor of that 
Man who says to us all through St. Paul (2 Cor. 
xii. 9): 'My strength is powerful in the weak.' 
It ought surely to make you much happier, to 
have been called by such a Man, endowed in 
addition with knowledge, desire and love for his 
Word, and, yet further, sealed with his baptism 
and sacrament. What more can he do, who has 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 545 f. 



48 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

given you within a heart thus disposed toward 
himself, and without such seals, together with the 
confession and testimony of his grace. O, dear 
Doctor, consider what blessings you have received 
from him, and look not upon your sufferings; for 
there is no comparison between the two. He can 
very easily, too, make you well again, if you will 
let him take his time : although we are his in 
every hour, as St. Paul says (Rom. xiv. 8): 'Liv- 
ing or dying, we are the Lord's (Domini sumus).' 
'Yes,' truly 'Domini,' both in the possessive and 
in the nominative case: in the possessive case, 'the 
Lord's,' because we are his house, yes, his very 
members; in the nominative case, 'Lords,' be- 
cause we rule over all things through faith, which, 
thanks be to God, is our victory, and tread upon 
the lions and dragons. Finally, remember that he 
has said (John xvi. 33): 'Be of good cheer, I have 
overcome the world.' Take courage, therefore, 
my dear and honored Doctor, and let the voices of 
your brethren reach your heart, through whom 
even beyond and above his daily works, God 
himself says to you: 'Where I am, there shall ye 
also be!' I shall treat your sons just as though they 
were my own. You are not a false friend to me, as 
I have had abundant reason to know: therefore will 
I also not be false to you nor to any of yours while 



Luther and the Sick. 49 

God grants me breath. Amen. Magister Philip 
will see you shortly, if God will, and will have 
more to say. I send greeting to all your family. 

Dr. Martin Luther." 
Given this Day of Peter and Paul {June 29th), in 
the year 1534. 

To the honorable and prudent Caspar Miller, 
chancellor at Mansfeld, his patron and sponsor, 
the Reformer sends this letter of comfort:* "Grace 
and Peace in Christ. My dear Sir and Sponsor, 
Honored Chancellor — to address you as is fitting, 
although some of those about you would have it 
otherwise — I have received your letter and the 
frills, which please me very well, and I thank you 
kindly. It grieves me, that sickness should again 
be laid upon you by God: for I know very well, 
since you are by the grace of God one of the very 
few (rare birds), who are heartily in earnest in. 
their devotion to the Word of God and the King- 
dom of Christ, that your good health and ability 
may be very useful and comforting to us all, 
especially in the midst of the strange perils that : 
are now overhanging us. But if God indeed 
wishes that you should thus be sick, his will will: 
most certainly be better than all our wills, just as ^ 
it was needful that even the very best and innocent : 

* Briefe. De Wette. , 4, 563 ff. 



50 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

will of his dear Son should be subject to the 
higher and supremely good will of the dear Father. 
His will be done also in us with joy, or at least 
with patience. Amen. In the Word of God we 
read: 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
world ! ' How can we do otherwise, than glorify 
and bear in our body the Conqueror of the world, 
the devil, sin, death, the flesh, diseases and all 
evils. His yoke, we know, is easy, and his bur- 
den is sweet. But our yoke and burden, which 
he bore for us, was the devil, yea, and the wrath 
of God. From that may God preserve us! Yea, 
he has already delivered us from it, and we bear 
instead his dear load and his sweet burden. Ah ! 
that we have yet to undertake, and joyfully to 
accept the change. It is a kind merchant and a 
gracious dealer, who sells us life for death, right- 
eousness for sin, and demands for interest only a 
sickness or two, enduring for a moment, as evi- 
dence that he gives more cheaply and lends more 
kindly than brokers and dealers on the earth. 
Yea, truly ! the Lord Jesus Christ is the Man, and 
the true Man, who struggles and conquers and 
triumphs in us. He must and shall still live, and 
we with him and in him. There can be no 
other issue of the strife, however the gates of hell 
may rage. Therefore, as you desire a message of 



Luther and the Sick. 51 

comfort from me, I offer this as my comfort in 
Christ: that you may be joyously thankful to the 
Father of all grace, who has called you to his 
light and to the confession of his Son, and given 
to you abundantly at least this grace, that you do 
not favor the enemies of his Son, nor advance 
their plans, which you could not indeed do unless 
Cochleus, Vicelius, and Albert of Halle pleased 
you better than St. Paul or Isaac, or just as well, 
which I trust they do not. What does it matter, 
then, that God lays you upon your bed and sends 
sickness upon you, since he grants you such 
abundant grace and has separated and chosen you 
out of such diabolic darkness and such a hellish 
rabble? Thank him, and render the interest due 
like an honest man, and pay your vows, as the 
116th Psalm says (v. 10) : 'I believe, and therefore 
am I thus afflicted: but how can I repay what God 
has done for me? I will drink the cup of joy, and 
praise and thank the name of my Lord,' i. e., I 
will bear misfortune and sufferings with joyfulness 
and sing out above them hallelujah. Do this and 
you shall live. Christ, our Lord, who has begun 
in you his work, will carry it on to a blessed end, as 
with us all, although we are poor sinners. He him- 
self knows our weakness, and his Spirit intercedes 
for us. To him do I now earnestly commend you. 



52 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

Just see now, have I not afflicted my patient far 
enough ? My Lord, Katie, sends greeting, and hopes 
that you may soon be well and come to see us. 
"Martinus Luther, D." 
Wittenberg, Tuesday Vigilice Catharince {Nov. 
24t1i), in the year 1534. 

To Frederick Myconius, Superintendent at 
Gotha, who lay dying of consumption, he addressed 
the following heroic epistle: "Grace and Peace. 
I have, dear Frederick, received your letter, in 
which you inform me that you are lying sick unto 
death, or, as you rightly and in a true Christian 
spirit explain, 'sick unto life.' Now, although it 
gives me a peculiar joy, that you are so unterrified 
in view of death, which is for all the pious but an 
ordinary sleep; yea, so full of desire to depart and 
be with Christ, as we should all be, not only when 
on beds of languishing, but even in the fullest 
vigor of life, at every time, at every place, under 
all circumstances, as becomes us Christians, who 
have already been with Christ awakened, made 
alive, and admitted to heavenly enjoyments, who 
are even judges of the angels, so that nothing 
remains to be done, but that the veil and the dark 
word be removed — although, I say, it has afforded 
me a peculiar joy to learn this of you, yet I beseech 



Luther and the Sick. 53 

and implore the Lord Jesus, our Life, our Salva- 
tion and our Health, that he may not permit yet 
this evil to fall upon me, that I should survive and 
see you and others of our friends break through 
the veil and enter into rest, leaving me behind, 
out among the devils, to be vexed yet longer after 
your escape. I have surely been vexed enough 
through so many years, and might be accounted 
worthy and deserving to go before you. I pray, 
therefore, that the Lord may let me become sick in 
your stead, and give me commandment to lay 
aside this my robe of flesh, that is no longer good 
for anything, that has served its time and is worn 
out. I recognize plainly enough that I am no 
longer good for anything. Hence I beseech you 
also to pray with us to the Lord, that he may pre- 
serve you longer for service in his church and to the 
mockery of the devil. For you surely see, and he 
who is our Life also sees, what talents and persons 
are necessary for his church. Farewell, my Fred- 
erick, and may the Lord grant that I may never 
while I live hear of your departure, but may he 
ordain that you survive me. This I pray, this I 
desire, and may my will be done, Amen; for this 
my will seeks the honor of God's name, and not 
my own pleasure or honor. Again, farewell. We 
are praying most earnestly for you. My Katie 



54 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

sends greeting, as do all the others, who are deeply 
affected by your sickness. 

" Your Martin Luther."* 
Sunday after Epiphany, 1541. 

We can understand why the Elector, John Fred- 
erick, when, in June, 1540, Melanchthon lay dying 
at Weimar, would hear of no other course than to 
bring Luther, traveling day and night, from Wit- 
tenberg. "When the latter arrived," reports 
Ratzeberger,t "he found Melanchthon really in 
such condition as had been reported to him. His 
eyes had already become dim, reason had entirely 
vanished, the power of speech was lost, hearing 
was gone, and his countenance and temples were 
sunken. It was, indeed, as Luther said, the Hypo- 
cratic face. He recognized no one, ate and drank 
nothing. When Luther first looked upon him, he 
was shocked beyond measure, and said to his com- 
panions: 'God forbid! how has the devil marred 
this instrument!' and, turning immediately to the 
window, he prayed earnestly to God. ' Then and 
there,' Luther afterwards said, ' was our Lord God 

*Mycouius, always sickly from the year 1541, did in fact not 
die until after Luther's death, i. e., on April 7th, 1546, and was 
accustomed to acknowledge that this letter of Luther had given 
him a new lease of life. 

f Luther und seine Zeit. Published by Neudecker, p. 103 f. 



Luther and the Sick. 55 

obliged to listen to me, for I cast my burden before 
his door, and besieged his ear with all the promises 
to answer prayer that I could repeat from the Holy 
Scriptures, so that he was obliged to hear me, if I 
was at all to trust his promises.' He then took 
Philip by the hand, and said: ' Be of good courage, 
Philip, you will not die. Although God has 
reason enough to take away your life, yet he does 
not desire the death of the sinner, but that he may 
turn from his ways and live. He has pleasure in 
life and not in death. If God called and received 
again to his favor the very greatest sinners that 
ever lived on earth, Adam and Eve, much less will 
he cast you out, my Philip, or suffer you to perish 
in sin and sorrow. Therefore do not give way to 
despondency, and thus become your own murderer, 
but trust in the Lord, who is able to kill and make 
alive again.' For Luther well understood the 
troubles of his friend's heart and conscience. As 
he was thus holding and addressing him, Philip 
began to breathe again, but was still for a long 
time not able to talk. He then turned his face 
directly toward Luther, and began to entreat him 
for God's sake not to detain him any longer, say- 
ing that he was upon a good journey and that he 
should allow him to go on, as nothing better could 
happen to him. ( By no means, Philip,' said Lu- 



56 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

ther, 'you must serve our Lord God yet further 
here.' Thus Philip became more and more ani- 
mated, and Luther, ordering some food to be 
quickly prepared, took it to him himself. But 
Philip refused to eat of it. Luther, however, com- 
pelled him with threats, and said: 'Do you hear, 
Philip ? Quick ! You must eat now, or I will ex- 
communicate you ! ' By this language he was 
prevailed upon to eat a little, and thus gradually 
regained strength. ' ' 

The Electress Elizabeth, of Brandenburg, who 
had fled for protection to her uncle, John the 
Steadfast, because her husband, as was commonly 
reported, intended to imprison her for secretly re- 
ceiving the holy communion in both elements at 
Easter, 1528,* and to whom the castle at Li ch ten- 
burg had been assigned as a residence, acted not 
unwisely when, in 1537, she secured admission to 
Luther's house, in order that both her temporal 
and her spiritual wants might there be ministered 
to during her great bodily weakness, f His Katie 
sat upon the bed by her side and soothed her, and 
he himself gave her every possible attention. J She 
was there restored again to health. || 

* Briefe. De Wette, 3, 296. 
flbid., 6. 445. 
J Ibid., 6, 188. 
1 Ibid., 5, 596 f. 



CHAPTER III. 

HOW LUTHER INTERESTED HIMSELF IN THE 
FORLORN. 

THE first among the many destitute and forlorn 
in whose behalf Luther was called upon to 
interest himself were those who, for the sake of 
the Gospel which he had restored to them, had, 
with cheerful trust in God, forsaken the monaster- 
ies in which they had been incarcerated, or the 
positions which they had held in the Roman 
Catholic church. To Wittenberg they came, not 
only from the various provinces of Germany, but 
also from the Netherlands,* France f and other 
lands. They looked to the Man whose word had 
awakened their consciences and illuminated their 
hearts, not only for further instruction, but also, 
since they had forsaken all for the faith, for food 
and shelter, in fact for their entire support. The 
Reformer recognized his duty, and, despite his 
many other engagements, applied himself with the 
greatest diligence to its discharge. His first con- 

*Briefe. De Wette, 2, 182. 

flbid., 2, 302 ; 3, 102 (Two superiors at once). 

(57) 



58 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

cern was to secure for the refugees admission into 
respectable and suitable homes. He then notified 
their nearest relatives, and inquired what these 
were willing to do.* As was to be expected, the 
majority refused to assume any responsibility for 
their escaped friends. Not only were the mon- 
asteries very commonly regarded as institutions 
for the support of poor relations, but very many 
yet clung so tenaciously to the old church, that 
they condemned the forsaking of these spiritual 
houses as a horrible and heaven-offending crime. 
It now became necessary so to locate those who 
were forsaken by their friends, that they might 
earn their own living. 

The priests who had been compelled to flee on 
account of their faith could be easily provided for, 
for the most of the old pastors in the territory of 
the Elector of Saxony were entirely incapable, if 
not altogether unworthy men. IyUther was con- 
stantly sending to his friend, the very influential 
Spalatin, for the good of the Church, such confes- 
sors of the faith, tried in the fires of affliction. If 
he knew of no appropriate position for his man in 
the territory of his own ruler, having intimate 
relations with many princes and cities throughout 
Germany, he sought at a distance what he could 

*Briefe. De Wette, 2, 319; 3 33. 



Luther and the Forlorn. 59 

not find near at hand. He thus sent to Count 
Philip of Nassau-Weilburg, in 1538, Johaun Beyer 
of Steinach, an able preacher, who had withdrawn 
from the ungodly monastery at Halle, together 
with his wife and child.* 

It was much more difficult to make secure provi- 
sion for the future of the escaped monks. Scarcely 
any of these had received sufficient spiritual train- 
ing and culture to make them available as preachers 
of the Gospel. But whenever Luther discovered a 
competent man, he spoke a good word for him. 
He thus, for example, secured from Spalatiu for 
the brother Moritz, who had left the monastery 
at Altenburg, the pastorate of Schonewalde, near 
Herzberg,f and very earnestly recommended the 
brother of his own order, Gabriel Z willing, to the 
council of Altenburg as a suitable man to be called 
as their minister.! In most cases, it was neces- 
sary to advise the learning of an honorable trade, 
and to point out the proper steps and furnish the 
means to this end. Luther here displayed keen 
penetration and great practical ability. He thus 
recommended to his friend, Hans of Dolzig, as a 
good gardener, Ern Heinrich, who, unlike the 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 344 ; 6, 204. 
tlbid., 2, 361. 
Jlbid., 2, 183. 



60 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

others who left the monastery, had received a hun- 
dred guldens.* "As Wittenberg," however, 
"swarmed with escaped monks, and others were 
daily arriving," as Luther himself writes, f it was 
necessary for him to call his distant friends to his 
aid. Nicholas Hausmann, at that time pastor at 
Zwickau, where cloth-making and linen-weaving 
were extensively carried on, J rendered him faith- 
ful assistance. A short letter of the Reformer, in 
which he recommends to him such a former monk, 
has been preserved. § Since, however, the fac- 
tories would receive no one as an apprentice with- 
out evidence of legitimate birth, and as the 
appropriate testimonials were very commonly re- 
fused to former inmates of the monasteries in order 
to compel them to re-enter the hated walls, Luther 
frequently found himself called upon to testify 
that the applicant, according to his best knowl- 
edge and conscientious belief, was "born and 
descended from reputable and irreproachable par- 
ents" and had conducted himself reputably and 
honorably, and that no one could accuse him of 
anything to the contrary. With such a testi- 
monial, for example, he dismisses Gregory Mor- 
ganstern of Dresden, a former Augustinian, who, 



*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 164. 


f Ibid., 2, 241 


J Ibid., 2, 251. 


\ Ibid., 2, 241 



Luther and the Forlorn. 61 

"according to Christian doctrine and the counsel 
of truth, desires to be transferred forthwith from 
his perilous condition to a blessed condition, since 
he wishes, in all honor before God, by the help of 
pious people, to support himself, like all the sons 
of Adam, by the sweat of his face."* 

But it was the most difficult task of all, to give 
proper counsel and care to the escaped nuns. 
Luther could not, of course, as long as he was un- 
married, receive any destitute nun into the mon- 
astery. He often did so afterwards, and one of 
these, "Aunt Lene," an aunt of his wife, whose 
full name was Magdelene von Bora, for whom he 
had warm rooms specially prepared, remained 
with him until her happy death, f The Duchess 
Ursula of Miinsterberg, who had almost miracu- 
lously escaped from the convent at Freiberg, found 
with him a refuge of righteousness. "She is now 
staying at my house," writes he to Spalatin on the 
20th of October, 1528,! "with two young women, 
one of whom, Margaretha Volkmar, is the daughter 
of a citizen of Leipzig, and the other, Dorothea, 
the daughter of a Freiberg citizen, who took 
with her into the convent 1400 guldens inherited 

* Briefe. De Wette, 2, 413. 
flbid., 6, 327. 
{Ibid., 3, 390 f. 



62 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

from her father, and has left this behind her, in 
poverty to follow the poor Christ with Madam 
Ursula. The whole party have brought not a sin- 
gle penny with them." For very many of these es- 
caped nuns suitable places were found, as for Aunt 
L,ene, in various homes, as assistants in housekeep- 
ing and the care of children. Others were so 
fortunate as to secure good husbands, and preside 
over their own households. Even here IyUther 
very often smoothed the way, as, for example, he 
had at first designed his own future wife for 
Jerome Baumgartner, the son of a Nuremberg 
patrician,* and, when this failed, for Caspar Glatz, 
vicar of the pastorate of Orlamund.f 

Many young women of the convents asked his 
counsel as to whether and under what circum- 
stances it was allowable to forsake a convent, as, 
for example, those to whom he replied on the 6th 
of August, 15244 Many an escaped nun, likewise, 
sought his counsel in regard to her contemplated 
marriage. He was always accommodating, but 
cautious as well. "Grace and Peace. Decorous 
and dear Maiden, Hannah," he writes under such 
circumstances on the 14th day of December, 1523, § 

*Briefe. De Wette, 2, 553. 
fBeste, Kath. von Bora, p. 23. 
% Briefe. De Wette, 2, 534 ff. 
§Ibid., 2, 445. 



Luther and the Forlorn. 63 

u I have received your letter, and, as you desire, 
will do my best, both with Mr. S. von K., and 
with any others who may ask my opinion, to help 
on your proposed or promised marriage, that it 
may move along right smoothly. God knows 
that, so far as in me lies, I would most willingly 
help every one along in much smaller matters than 
this, if I were able. I am not at all displeased to 
hear that you are thinking of marriage. But in 
such matters I cannot at such a distance pass 
judgment either one way or the other. More than 
one person is here concerned, and we are forbidden 
by God to pass judgment upon petition of but one 
of the parties in any matter. In this I, just like 
yourself, make no distinction on account of rank. 
One human being is worthy of another, if they 
only delight in and love one another, so that the 
enemy may not deceive them. You need therefore 
have no doubt, but that I shall be present, when it 
comes to the time, or, if asked about the matter, 
will speak most favorably, and in every way help 
to make it move along smoothly. For, since I 
observe that you are well pleased with it, it shall, 
so far as I am concerned, provided no one else is 
injured by it, be undisturbed and unhindered. 
But do not forget to seek God's blessing also, that 
not merely natural affection, but also the favor of 



64 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

his grace, may be yours. May he be gracious to 
you and to your dear lover. Amen. \ ' 

Now and then Luther was enabled to make use 
of a former nun, although not as a deaconess in 
the church (it is remarkable, that it occurred to 
no one to thus appropriate the very prevalent term, 
4 'the maid-servants of Christ," although for very 
many no employment whatever could.be found!), 
yet for service in schools for girls, in the establish- 
ment of which he was greatly interested. 

" Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus," thus he 
addresses,* on Thursday after Agapetus (August, 
18), 1527, the young woman, Else of Kanitz, one 
of the eight nuns who had escaped with Catharine 
von Bora from the convent of Nimbsch, near 
Grimma,f "Decorous, virtuous Maiden, Else. I 
have by letter requested your dear Aunt Hannah, 
of Plausig, % to send you to me for a while; for I 
have had it in mind to make use of you, in setting 
you to teach young girls, and to begin with you 
such work as an example for others. You are to 
make your home with me, and eat at my table, so 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 170. 

f Ibid., 2, 319. 

% Seidem ann's supposition is probably correct, that this 
Hannah of Plausig is one and the same person with the above- 
mentioned nun, Hannah. Briefe. De Wette, 6, 688. 



Luther and the Forlorn. 65 

that you will be in no danger and have no care; I 
beg of you therefore not to refuse me this favor. I 
hear also that the wicked enemy is assailing you 
with grievous thoughts. O, my dear Maiden, do 
not be terrified by that, for whoever endures the 
devil here will not have to suffer in the other world. 
It is a good sign. Christ also suffered all such 
things, as did many holy prophets and apostles, as 
you know the Psalter teaches us. Therefore be of 
good cheer, and endure willingly such chastise- 
ment from the Father, who will also in his own 
time help you to escape from it. When you come, 
I will say more to you about this. Herewith I 
commend you to God. Amen." 

Among the Forlorn we mention also those who 
on account of their profession of faith in the Gos- 
pel were forsaken of men, endured grievous perse- 
cutions, or were even cast into prison. With the 
utmost fidelity did L,uther exert himself in behalf 
of such. Two examples will furnish sufficient 
evidence of this. The above-mentioned Felicitas 
of Selmenitz, who was comforted in her sickness 
by the noble man of God at Wittenberg, had al- 
ready passed through many trying experiences. 
Her husband, Wolf, of Selmenitz, formerly owner 
of the Vitzenburg Castle on the Unstrut and warden 
at Allstedt, had been foully assassinated before the 
5 



66 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

inn of Moritz Knebel, known as "The Golden 
Ring," at Halle, on the 9th of January, 1519.* 
She had remained living there and had found her 
comfort in the Word of God. She became heartily 
attached to the Gospel doctrine, and boldly took 
the holy communion in both elements. In 1527 
she moved with her son to Wittenberg, but the 
pestilence drove her back within a few weeks to 
Halle. She was then required by the Elector of 
Mentz, Cardinal Albrecht, who, as the Archbishop 
of Magdeburg, had control also of Halle, either to 
surrender her faith or to leave Halle. The forlorn 
woman applied to Luther, the faithful counselor 
and provider of all the forlorn. She very soon re- 
ceived from him the desired advice, f 

"Grace and Peace in Christ, our Lord and 
Saviour. Discreet, virtuous Madam. I have re- 
ceived and considered your appeal. Christ will be 
with you and will not forsake you. As to your 
question, whether you should flee or remain, it is 
my opinion that you are at perfect liberty to flee 
and can do so with a good conscience, since you 
have received permission from those in authority; 
but still I would rather see you remain for a while 
yet, until you receive more positive information as 

*Kreysig, Beitrage zur Historie der Sachs. Lande, 2, 101. 
f Briefe. De Wette, 3, 297. 



Luther and the Forlorn. 67 

to whether the Cardinal will really come, in order 
that no one may regard your flight as premature or 
without occasion. Yet I leave it all to your judg- 
ment. May God, according to his divine will, 
strengthen you and all the brethren and sisters at 
Halle. Martinus Luther. 

" Wittenberg, April isl, 1528." 

With this faithful witness for Christ he re- 
mained in constant communication,* and selected 
her, as it appears, at a later period as sponsor for 
one of his children. In 1534 he wrote in her 
Bible, still preserved in the St. Mary's library in 
Halle : 

"Jn. v. Search the Scriptures, for they testify 
of me. 

"Ps. ii. Blessed are all who put their trust in 
him. 

"Isa. vii. If ye believe not, ye shall not abide. 
That is, everything will be a failure for you which 
you undertake without faith, even though in itself 
it were pure wisdom, power, art or wealth; for God 
will not suffer it to prosper. 

"To the beloved Sponsor of my child, the dis- 
creet, virtuous Lady, Felicitas of Selmenitz. 

"Martinus Luther, D." 

* She took a meal with him on the 10th of September, 1538. 
See Colloquia, Ed. Bindseil, 2, 165. 



68 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Evidently the passages here quoted were de- 
signed to be for this lady what guiding-stars are to 
the forlorn wanderers in the desert. 

Leonard Kaiser, a priest, who had succeeded in 
escaping from prison and had come to Wittenberg, 
was arrested by the Abbot of Passau, while upon a 
visit to his dying father, and placed in bonds. 
Luther took an interest in the lonely prisoner, and 
on the 20th of May, 1527, sent him the following 
letter :* 

"Grace, Strength and Peace in Christ. Your 
old man is imprisoned, my Leonard, according to 
God's will and the calling of Christ our Lord, who 
also gave his new man for you and your sins into 
the hands of the ungodly, that he by his blood 
might release you and make you his brother and a 
joint heir with him of everlasting life. We are 
very sorry for you, and pray diligently that you 
may be set free, in order that you may live, not for 
yourself but for others, to the honor of God, if it 
be his will. But should it not be the will of your 
Father in Heaven that you be set free, yet see to 
it that you, with a spirit at perfect liberty, bravely 
and steadfastly conquer this affliction of Satan, or 
at least endure it, through the power of Christ. 
He is with you in your imprisonment and will be 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 179 f. 



Luther and the Forlorn, 69 

with you also in every trial, as he has himself 
faithfully and kindly promised, saying: ' I am with 
him in trouble' (Ps. xci. 15). It is necessary, 
therefore, that you with confidence call upon him 
in prayer, and that you encourage and confirm 
yourself with psalms of consolation in the midst 
of this snorting of Satan; so that you may be- 
come strong in the Lord, and not speak any too 
humbly or timidly in the teeth of Behemoth, as 
though you were overcome and feared the proud 
might of Satan. But you must call upon Christ, 
who is everywhere present and mighty; and must 
defy and mock the rage and arrogance of Satan, 
well assured that he shall not be able to injure 
you, and all the less the more he rages, as Paul 
says: ' If God be for us, who can be against us?' 
(Rom. viii. 31). * All things are put under his 
feet' (Ps. viii. 6). He can help all who are 
tempted, who has himself also been tempted in all 
points. Therefore, my dearest Brother, grow strong 
in the Lord, and be strong in the power of his 
might, in order that, whether you be now set free 
or not, you may yet with a willing heart recognize, 
bear, carry out and praise the paternal will of God 
concerning you. That you may endeavor to do 
this to the praise of his Gospel, may the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and the 



jo Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

God of all comfort, grant according to the riches 
of his glorious grace. Amen. In him, farewell. 
Pray for us. ' ' 

But not only single persons found themselves in 
forlorn condition. Whole companies of believers, 
entire congregations, turned in vain for help and 
protection to those who should in justice have 
interested themselves in their behalf. Luther, 
though at a distance, exerted himself as a true 
shepherd in behalf of these, who had been for- 
saken, if not actually persecuted, by their own 
appointed shepherds, leading them to the living 
water, and preparing a table before them in the 
presence of their enemies. What remarkable facil- 
ity he displayed in doing this, is manifest from his 
letters. Here again, two must suffice. 

To the Elect, the Beloved of God, all the Mem- 
bers of Christ at Augsburg, his dear Masters and 
Brethren, he indited on the nth of December, 
1523, this epistle:* 

"Grace and Peace in Christ our Lord. It has 
come to our ears, dear Brethren and Masters, that 
some among you have innocently fallen into diffi- 
culty on account of the marriage of a priest, f and, 

* Briefe. De Wette, 2, 440, ff. 

t The priest, Jacob Griessbiittel, for whose marriage the 
authorities had refused to open the church, had, in the pres- 



Luther and the Forlorn. 71 

besides the injury, are made to endure also ridicule 
and reproach from those who rejoice when Christ 
is crucified, and laugh when their father's distress 
and nakedness are uncovered. But, now that we 
are by the grace of God in the communion of the 
saints and members one of another, we must, as 
Paul says (Rom. xii. 13, 15), minister to the neces- 
sity of the saints, and have sympathy for those 
who suffer. For, just as St. Paul says again (1 
Cor. xii. 26): 'Whether one member suffereth, all 
the others suffer with it; or one member is hon- 
ored, all the others rejoice;' so, whether there be 
among you honor or dishonor, peace or tribula- 
tion, we account these as our own and are equally 
affected by them. We depend also likewise upon 
you, Beloved, that our joy may be your joy, and 
our misfortune yours, on account of the common 
faith and Word, with which God has in his great 
mercy endowed us. Therefore I could not and 
ought not to neglect to exhort you and to comfort 
you with the comfort wherewith we are comforted 
of God through his holy Word, in order that you 
may not only bear the present trial with patience, 
but also become vigorous and strong to await and 

ence of 32 adherents of the evangelical doctrines, at a feast, 
made the declaration, that he then and there took the bride to 
be his wife. Comp. Uhlhorn, Urban Rhegius, p. 57. 



72 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

to overcome yet greater things, although I do not 
imagine that you stand in need of my poor epistle. 
" In the first place, Paul says (Rom. viii. 17; 2 
Tim. ii. 12): 'If we would reign with him, we 
must also suffer with him. ' For, if we take pleasure 
in the Gospel and desire to become partakers of 
his unspeakable riches and his eternal treasure, we 
must also take into account his cross, and the 
tribulation that comes with it, considering that his 
riches and treasure are eternal and his tribulation 
temporal, yea, but momentary. He has himself 
declared (Jn. xvi. 33): 'In the world ye shall have 
tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace.' If we 
would have peace in him, then we must have 
tribulation from the world. The words of Christ 
can have no other meaning. Remember my word, 
says he, which I have spoken to you: 'The ser- 
vant is not better than his lord. If they have per- 
secuted me, they will persecute you also.' A 
slothful and unprofitable servant indeed would he 
be, who should wish to sit upon a silk cushion and 
live-in luxury, while his master was without, hun- 
gering and toiling and contending against his 
enemies. That would be a foolish merchant in- 
deed, who should throw away his gold and silver 
and have nothing to do with it, because it was 
tied up, not in silk and satin, but in rough, dirty 



Luther and the Forlorn. 73 

bags and sacks; or who should become disgusted 
with his treasure because it was heavy, and not 
as light as a feather. It is the very nature of 
treasures to be heavy, aud to increase in weight 
according to their value; and it is not customary 
to carry gold and silver in beautiful bags and sacks, 
but in black, rough, dirty cloth, which no one 
would otherwise like to have about his body. 

u Just so is it also with our treasure. It is indeed 
great, precious, costly and noble, but we must 
carry it in tribulation and sufferings; these are its 
weight aud the dirty bags in which it lies hidden. 
If now any one should attempt to carry this treas- 
ure about publicly in beautiful bags, i. e. , wants to 
be a Christian, and yet to be splendidly supported, 
to have pleasure and honor and good friends, 
and not be despised, nor have to endure in conse- 
quence sorrow, shame, injury and enemies; what 
else can he expect but that he will be robbed of his 
treasure? Why, he is carrying it grandly and 
publicly and visibly, whereas it is the nature of 
this treasure to be well concealed under shame, 
injury and sufferings, as in a sooty bag or sack, in 
order that the world may not recognize or steal it, 
which comes to pass when the w r orld begins to 
honor, love and assist us on account of our treasure. 
Therefore Christ says (Matt. xiii. 44) that the man 



74 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

who found the treasure in the field hid and buried 
it again. The meaning of this is, that it is not 
possible nor to be desired, that the Gospel should 
shine forth and soar aloft in great honors, comfort, 
pleasure and wealth, for thus it would be lost; but 
it must be hidden and buried under tribulation 
and shame, in order that it may not shine forth 
before the world and seek to please it, for thus it 
remains safe and free. 

u God is therefore very graciously regarding you, 
and protecting your treasure, in order to preserve 
it to you, for which you should suitably thank and 
praise him with rejoicing, that he accounts you 
worthy to hold such treasure, and now also to put 
it into the right bag, that it may not be lost. 
Therefore be of good cheer, my dear Masters and 
Brethren; it is well with you, and better times will 
come. Only fall not away, out of the hand of 
God, who has now laid hold of you to make good, 
honest Christians out of you, that you may not in 
word alone, as I, alas! and others in your circum- 
stances, but in deed and in truth, live according to 
the Gospel. 

u It is written (Isa. lxiv. 8): 'We are his clay; 
he is our potter. 7 The clay must not control the 
art and the hand of the potter, but must let itself 
be controlled and shaped. Therefore the Gospel 



Luther and the Forlorn. 75 

applies its square, which St. Paul has given it: 
the word of the cross (1 Cor. i. 8). He who will 
not have the cross, must do without the word. 
It is true, there could be nothing more delightful 
in Heaven or on earth than the word without the 
cross. But the pleasure would not last long, since 
nature cannot long endure unmixed joy and pleas- 
ure, as it is said: ' Man can bear everything except 
prosperity,' and: 'It takes strong legs to carry 
prosperity. ' 

"Therefore God has seasoned this sweet, delight- 
ful treasure for us a little, and poured in vinegar 
and myrrh to give it a sharp taste, that we might 
not become satiated with it. ' Bitter makes the 
meal,' they say; and thus also tribulation on earth 
makes our hearts so much the more cheerful, keen 
and eager to enjoy this treasure; for thereby we 
taste and discover its power to comfort the heart in 
God. Hence, also, Solomon calls it mixed wine, 
Prov. ix. 5, where wisdom says: ' Come and 
drink the wine which I have mixed for you;' and 
in Ps. lxxv. 9 we read : ' The Lord has in his 
hand a cup full of mixed wine. ' It is a pure wine, 
which intoxicates the soul, but yet so mixed with 
sufferings as to remain pleasant to the taste. 

u But why should I say more? You yourselves 
know very well, Beloved, that the Word of God 



j6 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

is everywhere in the Scriptures represented as 
bringing with, it in this world tribulation, shame 
and all manner of trials, but as setting forth at 
the same time also, for admonition and comfort, 
how very precious this treasure of our faith is, and 
how greatly its value is increased by such trials. 
You are therefore yourselves abundantly able to 
comfort one another, and what I have ventured to 
do must be considered as a piece of presumption. 
Yet, because I see that God has granted to you the 
same riches as to us through the knowledge of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, I cannot refrain from acting 
foolishly, and, out of the joy and pleasure that I 
find in your fellowship, thus talking to you and 
exhorting you, although I myself stand greatly in 
need of both admonition and instruction. I beg 
you, therefore, Beloved, to excuse this imperti- 
nent, but well-meant letter, and commend me, 
weak, poor, frail vessel to God in your prayers. 
Permit me also, I pray, to commend to you all our 
messengers. May the God of all grace, who has 
begun to reveal himself to you and to renew the 
likeness of his Son in you, abundantly complete 
his work, according to the riches of his glory, 
both in you and in us, until the day of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, for whose coming to deliver us from 
all the remains of evil in this flesh we confidently 






Luther and the Forlorn. 77 

wait. Amen. The grace of God be with you all. 
Amen." 

In February of the following year, Luther had 
occasion to address a letter of consolation to the 
adherents of the Gospel at Miltenberg on the 
Main. Johann Draconites, so named from the 
place of his birth, according to the custom of the 
time, also known as Johann Carlstadt, had there 
introduced the Gospel with great success, and thus 
stirred up the wrath of the civil ruler, the Elector 
Albrecht of Mentz. The pastor was driven out, 
and his chief adherents arrested and put to death. 
Luther manifested the warmest and deepest inter- 
est. To all the dear friends of Christ at Milten- 
berg he wrote:* 

" Grace and Peace from God the Father and from 
the Lord Jesus Christ. The holy apostle Paul, 
when he wished to comfort his brethren at Corinth, 
began thus (2 Cor. i. 3, 4): 'Blessed be God, the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
mercy and God of all comfort, who comforteth us 
in all our affliction, that we may be able also to 
comfort those who are in affliction with the com- 
fort wherewith we are comforted of God.' In 
these words the apostle teaches by his own example 
that we are to comfort the afflicted; yet in such a 

* Briefe. De Wette, 2, 475 ff. 



78 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

way that the comfort may come not from men but 
from God. This he adds, it is very evident, in 
order to guard against that false, shameful comfort 
which the world, the flesh and even the devil give, 
and by which all the benefit and fruit of the cross 
are destroyed and hindered. But what that com- 
fort is which comes from God, he points out 
(Rom. xv. 4): 'Whatsoever has been written, has 
been written for our instruction, that we through 
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have 
hope.' He says: ' might have hope;' but to have 
hope is to be concerned for that which we do not 
see nor feel (Rom. viii. 24). Worldly comfort 
aims to see and feel that which the afflicted one 
desires, and will have nothing to do with patience; 
but here must patience remain with comfort of 
the Scriptures in hope. 

"Just in this way does St. Paul really treat his 
brethren at Corinth. When he has spoken to 
them of the comfort of God, he begins at length to 
praise them as an epistle of Christ, wrought by his 
preaching of the Gospel and written by the living 
Spirit (2 Cor. iii. 4), and breaks out in a lofty 
hymn in praise of the Gospel, so that a carnally- 
minded person hearing him might well think: Is 
this man drunken, that, when he wishes to com- 
fort the Corinthians, he should thus only glorify 



Luther and the Forlorn. 



79 



himself and his preaching and extol his Gospel ? 
But whoever rightly considers it, can understand 
that the beloved Paul is drawing the true, noble 
comfort from the Scriptures, and making them 
strong and joyous through the Gospel. 

U I have accordingly also, my dear Friends, 
undertaken to comfort your hearts in your afflic- 
tion with such comfort as I have received from God, 
for I have been very fully informed by your exiled 
pastor, Dr. Johann Carlstadt, and through other 
sources, how the enemies of the Gospel and assassins 
of souls have dealt with you on account of the 
Word of God, which they in their infamous blas- 
phemy now call Lutheran doctrine, in order to 
make it appear that they are doing God service, in 
seeking to destroy the doctrines of men, just as the 
Jews, fulfilling the prophecy of Christ, treated the 
apostles. 

"It would be a worldly comfort, which could be 
of no benefit whatever, but altogether injurious to 
your souls and to the cause, if you and I should seek 
comfort in avenging ourselves upon the blasphemers 
by scolding and mourning over their impiety and 
wickedness. And though we should even slay 
them all with our hands, or banish them, or had 
the pleasure and delight of seeing them punished by 
some one else on account of the suffering inflicted 



80 Luther as Spiritital Adviser. 

upon us, there would yet be nothing thereby ac- 
complished. For this is worldly revenge and 
comfort, and does not befit us; but it is befitting 
to our enemies, as you now see that they, having 
cooled their malice upon you and avenged them- 
selves, are merry over it, and are wonderfully com- 
forted. But what sort of comfort is that? Have 
they any hope? Have they any patience? Have 
they any Scripture ? Verily, instead of God, they 
have used their fists; instead of patience, they 
have shown revenge; instead of hope, they have 
given vent to their malice openly and have already 
received all the good things that they will ever 
have. Whence comes then such comfort? It does 
not come from God, and must therefore certainly 
come from the devil. And so it does. But what 
will be the end of the comfort that comes from the 
devil ? Paul says (Phil. iii. 19) : ' Their boasting 
shall come to a shameful end.' 

u See now what a rich, proud comfort arises out 
of this for you ! In the first place, you are certain 
that it is for the sake of God's Word that you en- 
dure their insolence and abuse. What matters it 
that they call it heresy? You are sure that it is 
God's Word; they cannot therefore be sure that it 
is heresy. They will not hear nor receive it; they 
cannot therefore prove it to be heresy. Yet they 



Luther and the Forlorn. 81 

go on slandering and persecuting, upon such uncer- 
tain ground, as St. Peter says (2 Pet. ii. 12), 'What 
they do not understand !' Hence they cannot have a 
good conscience in the matter; but you have a 
secure, certain conviction that you are suffering for 
God's sake. Now who can ever fully describe what 
a blessed, proud comfort it is, to be certain that 
one is suffering for God's sake? For who surfers? 
Whom does it concern ? Who will avenge it, if 
we suffer for God's sake ? Well does St. Peter say 
(1 Pet. iii. 14): 'Blessed are ye, if ye suffer for 
righteousness' sake.' If one were the emperor of 
the whole world, he should not only be willing 
cheerfully to surrender his throne to secure such 
sufferings, but should even count it as dung, com- 
pared with such comforting treasure. 

"You have really, therefore, dear Friends, no 
occasion to desire revenge, nor to wish evil to your 
enemies, but much rather to regard them with 
heartfelt compassion. For you have in fact been . 
already too highly avenged, to say nothing of that . 
which yet awaits them at the end. They have- 
already suffered altogether too much. To you they 
have done only a kindness, that you should be led \ 
by their raging to the comfort of God; to themselves ; 
they have done an injury, from which they can; 

scarcely, and some of them never, recover.. 
6 



82 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

"For what does it matter, that they have tor- 
mented you for a little while in your body and 
your earthly possessions? That will soon be over. 
And what does it matter, that they for a little 
while rejoice in their wantonness? It cannot last 
long. Consider, in the meantime, your happiness 
and their misery. You have a good, secure con- 
science and a just cause; they have an evil, uncer- 
tain conscience and a blind cause, of which they 
do not even yet know how unjust it is. You have 
therefore the comfort of God with patience out of 
the Scriptures in hope; they have therefore the 
comfort of the devil through revenge in visible 
wantonness. 

" If now the privilege were given you to choose 
between their portion and your own, would you 
not run and flee from their side, as from the devil, 
even though it were a very heaven, and hasten to 
your portion, even though it were a very hell? 
For heaven could not be joyous, if the devil 
reigned there, and hell could not be gloomy, if 
God reigned there. 

"Therefore, dear Friends, would you avenge and 
comfort yourselves right well and proudly, not 
only upon your visible, bodily persecutors, but 
upon the devil, who rides them, then treat him 
thus: Be right joyful, and thank God that you 



Luther mid the Forlorn, 83 

have been made worthy to hear and understand his 
Word, and to suffer for it, and be content to know 
certainly that your cause is God's Word and your 
comfort from God. Pity your enemies, who have 
no good conscience in their cause, but only the 
miserable, gloomy comfort of the devil through 
their insolence, impatience, revenge and earthly 
malice. Believe assuredly that you will by such a 
joyful spirit, praise and thanksgiving, grieve their 
god, the devil, more than if you were to slay a 
thousand of your enemies. For it is not his aim 
to comfort them and give you bodily pain, but he 
wants to make 3-ou sad and melancholy, so that 
you may be of no service to God. Keep on, there- 
fore, all the more, and mock him, that his scheme 
may fail and be given up in disgust. 

4 'Yet one thing more let me point out to you, 
that will wonderfully nettle him, and that he fears 
most of all. He knows very well that, there is a 
little verse in the Psalter (viii. 2), which reads: 
' Thou hast laid a strong foundation through the 
mouth of babes and sucklings, that thou mightest 
make an end of the enemy and the avenger !' This 
verse threatens him not alone with grief and mis- 
ery, but with total destruction, and that, not by 
means of some great power, which would still be 
an honor for him, but by means of helpless suck- 



84 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

lings, in whom there is no strength. It stings the 
mighty, proud enemy, and gives him dreadful 
pain, that his great power, his terrible raging, his 
wrathful vengeance, is to be cast down into the 
dust by childish weakness, without power, and 
that he cannot prevent it. 

In this let us help, and do our part with zeal. 
We are babes and sucklings, if we are weak and 
let the enemies exercise their might and power over 
us, saying and doing upon their part whatever they 
please, whilst we upon our part keep silence, as 
though we were unable to do or say anything — we 
as little children, and they as powerful heroes and 
giants. But yet, meanwhile, God speaks through 
our mouth his Word, which glorifies his power. 
This is such a rock and firm foundation, that 
the gates of hell can avail nothing against it. 
Wherever this remains and has free course, some of 
the enemies, who were the devil's scales, are at 
length converted. When these scales are now 
stripped off of him by the Word of God, he is left 
naked and weak; and thus it comes to pass, as this 
verse says, that an end is made of the enemy and 
the avenger. This is a joyful victory and a con- 
quest without sword or fist. It therefore gives the 
devil great pain. It is very pleasant and agreeable 
to him, when he is able through his servants to 



Luther and the Forlorn. 85 

stir us up to wrath, revenge, impatience and sad- 
ness; but where the only results are joy and the 
praising of God and glorifying of his Word, that is 
a real hell for him. 

" Yes, some one may say, but it is forbidden, upon 
penalty of life and property, to speak the Word of 
God. Well, let him that is strong refuse to keep 
such commandment, for they have no authority to 
forbid any one. God's Word ought to be, it shall 
and must be, unbound. But if any one is too 
timid and weak, I will give him another counsel, 
namely, that he shall yet rejoice in secret, thank 
God and glorify his Word, as we have said before, 
and pray to God for strength to speak it also openly, 
that the enemy and the avenger may be put to con- 
fusion. To this end, I present to you this 120th 
Psalm, translated into German and briefly ex- 
plained, that you may see what comfort God offers 
you through his Word, and how you ought to pray 
against the false revilers and raging persecutors. 
4 Psalm cxx. 

4 1. I cried unto the Lord in my distress, and he 
heareth me. 

4 2. Lord, deliver my soul from wicked mouths 
and from false tongues. 

'3. What shall one give unto thee, and what 
shall one do against false tongues ? 



86 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

' 4. Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of 
juniper. 

' 5. Ah, my sorrow! that I must so long wander ! 
I dwell among the tents of Kedar. 

' 6. My soul must dwell so long among them 
that hate peace. 

' 7. I kept the peace, but when I spoke, they 
took up stones.' 

" The first verse teaches us to whom we should go 
when misfortune overtakes us: not to the emperor, 
not to the sword, not to our own counsel or wis- 
dom, but to the Lord, who is the true and only 
helper in the time of need. 'I cried,' says he, 
'unto the Lord in my distress.' And that we 
should do this boldly and joyously, and doing so, 
shall not fail, he indicates when he says: 'And he 
heareth me,' as though he should say: The Lord 
desires that we should go to him in our distress, 
and he is willing to hear and to help. 

"The second verse presents the grievance and 
indicates what the distress is: not that God did not 
know it beforehand, but that we may be thus 
stirred up and driven to pray the more diligently. 
It is just the very same distress which has fallen 
upon you at Miltenberg, and others like you in 
German countries, namely, that wicked mouths 
and false tongues will not endure the Word of 



Luther and the Forlorn. 87 

God, but hold on to their human vanity and lies, 
and command us to keep silence, that their wicked, 
false, poisonous doctrine may alone be preached. 

"The third verse holds a consultation as to how 
and by what means the matter may be helped. 
For human timidity desires and longs for help 
and protection in the world, and many are greatly 
concerned about these, as this verse with its look- 
ing about for counsel indicates. But the Spirit 
casts this all aside, and will have nothing to do 
with such helps, as is plain from what follows. 

"The fourth verse mentions the true help, 
namely, 'Sharp arrows of the mighty,' i. <?., that 
God should send powerful preachers who should 
speak his Word boldly. These are the arrows of 
God, and they are sharp, when they pierce, and do 
not spare, but shoot and wound all human vanities. 
By this means, false tongues are overcome and 
changed into true, Christian tongues. ' Coals of 
juniper,' are true Christians, who show forth in 
their lives the Word of God which is declared by 
the sharp arrows, and make it burn in ardent, fer- 
vent love manifested by works. For it is said 
that coals of juniper do really keep a fire well. 
This verse therefore wishes for skillful preachers, 
who shall employ the Word of God powerfully in 
faith, and smite to the earth every device of the 



88 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

devil, and let their faith burn and shine in works 
of fervent love. For there are indeed in these 
times many preachers of the Word, but they are 
not mighty and do not preach powerfully. And 
although they preach the Word, they do not make 
it sharp ; for they spare where there should be no 
sparing, i. e., the great multitude. Furthermore, 
they are themselves so cold in their love and so 
coarse in their lives, that they give offence rather 
than make others better, and thus they make the 
arrows of God dull and powerless. 

4 'The fifth verse laments, and shows how it goes 
with such preachers, namely, that few of their 
hearers believe the gospel, and they but cast it to 
the wind. This pains the Spirit, who so greatly 
desires that every one may receive it with joy. 
Therefore he says: 'Ah, woe is me! Ah, my 
sorrow ! I must so long here wander as a stranger, 
for I do not find the kingdom of God among them. 
And they will not enter it. I have preached so 
long and it does no good. They still remain as 
they are, and I must also live among them, and 
dwell in the tents of Kedar.' Kedar is the name 
given in the Hebrew language to Arabia, and 
means sad or gloomy, like persons who are mourn- 
ing. The Arabians are a wild, savage, insolent, 
uncultivated people. Hence he here calls those 



Luther and the Forlorn. 89 

who are not obedient to the gospel Kedar, because 
they will not suffer themselves to be chastened 
by the gospel. 

"The sixth verse shows that he is not alone de- 
spised, but also persecuted for the sake of the 
Word, and must yet remain among these evil men. 
4 They hate peace,' says he, i. e., the divine peace, 
which we enjoy when we have within peace with 
God in a good conscience, and without peace with 
all men, injuring no one, but doing good to all. 
They hate peace, for they persecute the Word, 
which teaches and brings such peace; and they 
defend their teaching, which makes evil con- 
sciences before God through works of unbelief, 
giving rise to sects and strife in many forms among 
the people. 

"The seventh verse gives answer, and presents 
its defence, against the false charges which the un- 
godly bring against true Christians. For they say 
that such doctrine is seditious and causes con- 
tentions in the world. To this he says: 'It is not 
my fault, for I kept the peace, injured no one, 
except that I preached about the true peace; that 
they could not endure, and began to stir up strife, 
and persecuted me.' Just so Elijah had to hear 
from King Ahab the charge that he had made 
Israel to sin, although, as Elijah replied, it was 
Ahab himself, and not he, who made Israel to sin. 



90 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

u You see here, dear Friends, that your case is at 
the same time described, and it happens to you 
just as is written in this Psalm. You must bear 
the name of being seditious, although you have 
done nothing but hear and speak and spread 
abroad the Word of God. Because of this, the 
temple-slaves and soul-hunters at Mentz have 
stirred up strife on your account, and have hated 
and persecuted the peace which you taught, and 
yet you must continue to dwell and must wander 
long among such enemies of peace for God's sake, 
and must be strange and. badly-treated guests in 
the tents of Kedar. 

"Now what will you do? Avenge yourselves, 
you cannot; and if you could, it would not be 
proper. Nor w T ill it do to wish them evil, for 
Christ says (Matt. v. 44): 'Bless them that curse 
you, and pray for them that despitefully use you 
and persecute you.' What shall you do then? 
Nothing better than to turn your eyes away from 
the men who injure you, and look upon the knave 
who owns and drives them, and consider how you 
may take revenge and wreak your passion upon 
him. But he has neither flesh nor bone, he is a 
spirit. Therefore, as St. Paul says, you have not 
to fight with flesh and blood, but with spiritual 
knaves in the air ('spiritual wickedness in high 



Luther and the Forlorn. 91 

places') with the rulers of the blind, dark world. 
What else could the miserable whoremongers and 
gluttons at Mentz do ? They have to do just what 
their god, the devil, drives them to; they are not 
their own masters, and we ought therefore most 
heartily to pity them. They profess to be main- 
taining Christian doctrine, and yet live more shame- 
fully than adulterers and prostitutes; as though 
the Holy Spirit could effect anything for his honor 
through such tools of the devil, unless indeed he 
should do so without their knowledge or consent, 
as in the cases of Judas, Caiaphas and Pilate. 

"There is, therefore, only one course left, namely, 
that you, as this Psalm directs, cling to the Lord 
in this distress, call upon him to protect you 
against such evil tongues, and pray earnestly and 
with the whole heart for strong archers, who may 
shoot sharp arrows at the devils, never missing aim, 
and for fiery coals of juniper, who with burning 
zeal may enkindle the misguided, blind multitude, 
and by a pure life enlighten them to the glory and 
praise of God's name. If you will but do this, you 
will soon be so richly avenged upon the devil and 
his scales, that your hearts will be filled with re- 
joicing. But be sure to present such petitions with 
all confidence, and do not doubt that God, for the 
sake of whose Word you are tormented, will hear 



92 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

you and send out his arrows and coals in great 
numbers, so that, when they shall have suppressed 
the Word in one place in Miltenberg, it may break 
out in ten other places, and that, the more they 
blow upon the fire, the more hotly it may burn. 

"That the Word of God does not yet make such 
progress as it rightfully should, and as we would 
gladly see (although they think that its progress is 
altogether too rapid), can be laid only to our own 
account, because we are too indolent to pray for 
sharp arrows and hot coals. He has commanded 
us to pray that his kingdom may come and his 
name be hallowed, i. e., that his Word and Chris- 
tians may increase and become strong; but, because 
we allow everything to remain as it is, and do not 
pray with earnestness, the cause moves on so 
slowly, the arrows are blunt and powerless, the 
coals are cold and crude, and the devil is not yet 
very much afraid of us. 

" Therefore let us wake up and be active, for it is 
time. The devil is playing us many an evil game 
on every hand; let us therefore for once show him 
something that will sorely vex him, and avenge 
ourselves; that is, let us pray to God without ceas- 
ing, until he send us trained archers with sharp 
arrows and plenty of coals. 

"See now, my dear Masters and Friends, I have 






Luther and the Forlorn. 93 

ventured thus to write you a letter of consolation, 
although others could have done it better and have 
more cause than I. But since my name is also 
mixed up in the matter, and you are persecuted as 
being Lutherans, it was not unseemly for me, I 
think, to concern myself in your behalf as well as 
in my own. 

" And although I do not like it, that the doctrine 
and those who maintain it are called Lutheran, 
but have to endure from them that they thus dis- 
honor the Word of God by attaching my name to 
it; yet they must allow Luther, the Lutheran doc- 
trine and the Lutheran people, to remain and be 
exalted in honor. They and their doctrine, on the 
other hand, shall perish and be put to shame, even 
though the whole world should mourn and all the 
devils be sorely vexed. If we continue to live, they 
can have no peace on our account; if we die, they 
can still less have peace. In fine, they cannot get 
rid of us unless they come down and willingly sur- 
render to us, and all their wrath and raging cannot 
help them. For we know whose Word it is that 
we preach, and the whole of them together cannot 
take it from us. This is my prophecy, and it shall 
not fail. May God have mercy upon them ! 

u I hereby commend you, dear Friends, to the 
grace and mercy of God, and do you also pray to 



94 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

God for me, poor sinner; and may his blessing rest 
upon all your preachers, who preach Christ and 
not the Pope nor the temple-apprentices at Meutz. 
The grace of God be with you. Amen." 

It was in this way only that Luther could mani- 
fest his interest in the adherents of the gospel far 
away from the Elbe, on the Lech and the Main, 
expressing to them his deepest sympathy and giv- 
ing them most wholesome counsels, to enable them 
to bear their grievous afflictions in patience and 
with joy, to the honor of God and the glory of his 
name. He came to the assistance of those who in 
his own more immediate neighborhood were 
called upon to endure all manner of hostility and 
persecutions, by writing to them similar letters 
of consolation, as, for example, to the Christians 
chased out of Oschatz by Duke George, whose dis- 
tress had been reported to him by a woman of 
Daum;* to the adherents of the gospel driven out 
of Leipzig, f and to the sorely-pressed good people 
of Mitweida, of whom Antonius Lauterbach, 
preacher in the electoral Leisnig, had notified 
him.J But he also carried through their appeals to 

*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 433 f. (January 20. 1533.) 

\ Ibid., 4, 463. Werke, Jena. 6, 6 ff. (June or July, 1533). 

JBriefe. De Wette, 4, 609 (June 27, 1535)- 



Luther and the Forlorn. 95 

the strict civil rulers, as that of those who had 
been driven out of Leipzig, on account of the Gos- 
pel;* gave them advice in all manner of questions 
of conscience, as to others, also of Leipzig, who 
were to be compelled to receive the communion in 
but one element ;f welcomed them kindly to Wit- 
tenberg; consulted patiently and fully with them; 
and, when his physical condition did not permit 
him to ascend the pulpit in the city church, 
preached the Gospel to them in his own house, as 
e.g., on Whit-monday, 1534, to the faithful con- 
fessors who had been driven out of Leipzig. J 

As, furthermore, the spiritual adviser must, even 
in worldly affairs, not give counsel only, but must 
render personal, practical assistance, if the forlorn 
one cannot help himself, or if his own effort has no 
prospect of success; so the Reformer at all times 
endeavored to do all in his power to assist those 
who had been despoiled of their property in re- 
gaining possession of it. It was thus that he inter- 
ceded with his gracious lord, the Elector John, 
December 16th, 1527, § for a certain Simon Manne- 

*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 405 and 6, 135 (Oct. 4, 1532). 
f Ibid., 4, 443 and 6, 141 (April n, 1533). 
JComp. Marginal note to this sermon in Hauspostille, 
Niirnberg, 1545. 

\ Briefe. De Wette, 3, 247 f. 



96 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

witz, who had, for the sake of gospel, been op- 
pressed and robbed of his paternal inheritance by 
the Bishop of Meissen, representing that the lit- 
tle property of the poor man was included in the 
Wiirzburg district under the protection of the 
Elector. 

It was known how willingly Luther always 
helped the oppressed and the forlorn, and how 
much a word from him availed. He was therefore 
overrun with applications, not alone from such as 
desired to secure an investigation by some person of 
high rank or some wise city council, but also from 
such as thought that they were unjustly treated by 
those in authority. George Schmidt, for example, 
spreads before him, with the most solemn assevera- 
tions of his own innocence, his trouble, i. e., that 
the council of Magdeburg had done him injustice, 
and Luther at once appeals to Nicholas Amsdorf, 
his confidential friend at that place.* A certain 
poor man leaves him no rest, although he cannot 
by the utmost exertion render him any assistance; 
finally, he humbly entreats the Elector "to advance 
his cause by a short letter to the authorities of 
Jessen. " f Then comes a poor fisherman who had 
at one time fished in forbidden waters, and of whom 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 86 (January 7, 1526). 
t Ibid., 3, 101 (April 14, 1526). 



Luther and the Forlorn. 97 

the officer of the law demands ten silver schocks in 
penalty. Luther requests Spalatin* to effect a 
modification of the punishment. " I do not ask," 
writes he, "that he be not punished as an exam- 
ple to promote reverence for lawful authority, but 
that the punishment may be such as not to extort 
from him all his living. I would throw him into 
prison for a few days, or let him live on bread and 
water for a week, so that every one might see the 
object of the penalty to be not destruction, but 
amendment." Rents are withheld in Henneberg 
territory from a relative of the Reformer, Werner 
Bergk of Salzungen, "on account of some pur- 
chased bell-metal. n f An Eisenach citizen, Caspar 
Schalbe, is denied the possession of his property, 
because a servant girl has circulated evil reports 
about him. J A preacher of the Gospel, Amandus 
by name, has been placed in custody, as a seditious 
man, by Duke George of Pomerania, although the 
city of Stettin, and the preachers there, had given 
him the best of testimonials. § A preacher in Elec- 
toral Saxony has been arrested, because he has ex- 
pressed an imprudent opinion in matters relating 

*Briefe. De Wette, 2, 206 (June 7, 1522.) 
flbid., 3, 184 (June 16, 1527). 
J Ibid., 3 (119), 162 (March 1, 1527). 
I Ibid., 3, 107 f. (April 26, 1526). 

7 



98 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

to marriage.* These cases are all referred to L,u- 
ther, and the dear man of God, unable himself to 
help, grasps his pen, and implores his Elector John 
to look into them. 

We know how grievously Carlstadt had pro- 
voked him; but this does not prevent him from 
speaking a good word in behalf of the latter to his 
gracious lord, and requesting that he, who was said 
to be unsettled at Orlamund, being under very 
strong suspicion of complicity in the Peasant War, 
might come to Kemberg and live in peace. \ 

The Peasants, too, had done much to make life 
truly bitter for him: none the less on that account, 
he requests the Elector graciously to assist a poor 
man, Michael Koch, a citizen of Muhlhausen, to 
recover his property, since he had been already 
long enough driven about in misery. "Since 
many others," w 7 e read in this letter, J "who also 
took part in the insurrection have received per- 
mission to return and have been admitted; he 
begs that he, too, may for God's sake be admitted, 
and he makes the very best and strongest promises 
that he knows how to make." u I pray your Elec- 
toral Grace to look upon his misery, and let him 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 242 (Dec. 2, 1527). 

•f-Ibid., 3, 28 and 137 (Sept. 12, 1525, and Nov. 22, 1526). 

J Ibid., 3, 168 (Apr. 28, 1527). 



Ltither and the Forlorn. 99 

have the benefit of my intercession as far as may 
be proper, for I greatly pity the poor man." 

His love toward the forlorn is so strong, that he 
restrains his wrath against the Elector Albrecht of 
Mentz, and speaks a good word to him in behalf 
of Asmus Gunthel, the son of a citizen of Eisleben, 
who had been found eating and drinking with the 
Peasants in certain outworks that were taken by 
storm. " May your Electoral Grace," says he in 
his appeal,* "consider that this insurrection has 
been quelled, not by human hand or counsel, but 
through the grace of God, who has had compassion 
upon us all and especially upon those in authority. 
May you also in turn deal graciously and merci- 
fully with the poor people, as indeed well becomes 
spiritual rulers, and as is more fitting in them than 
in worldly rulers, in order that the grace of God 
may be recognized and acknowledged with thank- 
fulness, and that they may prove before the world 
that they have not desired and sought their own 
pleasure. There are, alas, far too many others 
who treat the people with such cruelty, and con- 
duct themselves with such ingratitude toward 
God, as though they would wantonly awaken 
again and bring upon themselves the wrath and 
displeasure of God and of the people, to cause a 

*Briefe. De Wette, 3, 16 (July 21, 1525). 



ioo Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

new and worse insurrection. God can soon have 
another one prepared, in order that they who have 
shown no mercy may perish without mercy." 

That Luther repelled no one in forlorn circum- 
stances, is strikingly illustrated by his efforts in 
behalf of the violent Hans Kohlhase. The splendid 
horses of the latter were siezed as stolen property 
by an electoral nobleman, Gunther of Zaschwitz, 
and so abused, that by the time his title was clearly 
proved, they were worth nothing. Kohlhase de- 
manded damages, but the squire paid no attention 
to his claim. The Elector of Brandenburg inter- 
ested himself in the cause of his subject; the 
Elector of Saxony promised to assist the poor man 
in securing his rights: but the electoral officers 
were unwilling to bring action against their as- 
sociate and occasioned unreasonable delay. Un- 
fortunately, the injured man undertook to help 
himself, and robbed, burnt* and murdered through- 
out Saxony to such an extent as to terrorize the 
country. "Luther, blessed man," so reports a 
manuscript district chronicle of Peter Hafftitius,f 

*We learn from Luther's letters, that he burnt down 
Schlieben (De Wette, 5, 158, February 2, 1539), and Marzahna 
(Ibid., 5, 272, March 5, 1540) and plundered a miller (Ibid., 5, 
170, March 2, 1539). 

fSchottgen, Diplomatische und curieuse Nachlese der His- 
toric von Ober-Sachsen, 3, 535 f. 



Luther and the Forlorn. 101 

"weighing and taking to heart all the circum- 
stances, and anxious to avoid further trouble which 
might result for both parties, wrote to Kohlhase and 
warned him to desist from his depredations, and 
sought to impress upon him by every consideration 
what the result would be for himself, and how 
God would surely, if he would not give him due 
honor and leave vengeance to him, bring to light 
and avenge the outrages. Kohlhase thereupon, 
unobserved, rode off with one companion to Wit- 
tenberg, took lodging at the inn, and in the 
evening, leaving his servant there, he approached 
Dr. Luther's door, knocked, and announced that 
he wished to speak with the Doctor. After the 
Doctor had several times through his servant re- 
quested him to give his name and state his errand, 
and he had refused to do this and yet strenuously 
insisted that he must speak with the Doctor in 
person, it occurred to the latter that it might be 
Kohlhase. He therefore went to the door himself, 
and said: 'Is it you, Hans Kohlhase?' to which 
the visitor replied: 'Yes, honored Doctor.' He 
then admitted him, conducted him secretly to his 
own chamber, and sent for Philip (Melanchthon), 
Cruciger, Major, and other theologians. Kohlhase 
then reported the whole transaction to them, and 
they remained with him until late in the night. 



102 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Early in the morning he made confession before 
the Doctor, received the holy sacrament, and 
promised them that he would cease his depreda- 
tions and inflict no injury in the future upon Saxon 
territory, a promise which was never broken. He 
then departed from the inn unrecognized and un- 
observed, they having given him assurance that 
they would help to advance his cause." This was 
unfortunately not to be accomplished so easily nor 
quickly. Kohlhase became impatient, and met 
his fate. 



CHAPTER IV. 
HOW LUTHER ADMONISHED THE ERRING. 

THROUGHOUT his entire life, the Reformer 
was, to a most extraordinary extent, brought 
into contact with people who cherished erroneous 
opinions, or whose consciences were perverted, 
especially with people who, unable to find the 
right way, wandered about in uncertainty or had 
actually started upon some course that was utterly 
wrong. 

The very act, indeed, by which he began his 
reformatory activity was an admonition of the 
erring! We are accustomed to regard the nail- 
ing of the ninety-five theses on indulgences upon 
the door of the castle-church at Wittenberg, which 
occurred at noon on the ever-memorable 31st of 
October, 1517, as the first act of faith on the part 
of the Reformer. 

This can hardly be considered as strictly accu- 
rate. Luther did not set himself up as a Reformer. 
He was, in the ordering of Providence, driven 
further step by step by the assaults of his enemies, 
and led into an ever deeper knowledge of the 

(103) 



104 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

truth. What he in his ninety-five theses pro- 
claimed to the learned world, he had already 
taught in the confessional at Wittenberg. He had 
been compelled to teach thus, that he might not 
make himself a partaker of other men's sins, and 
suffer those entrusted to his care, misled by soul- 
destroying error, to rush blindly into the pit of 
destruction. 

L,et us hear what a friend and contemporary of 
Luther, the above-mentioned Myconius, truthfully 
reports:* "In the year 1517, certain persons came 
to Dr. Martinus at Wittenberg with purchased in- 
dulgence papers, and, relying upon the grace which 
these assured, made confession before him. As 
they boldly confessed to the gravest offences, and 
declared that they had no intention of forsaking 
their adultery, usury, fornication, robbery, and 
such other sins and wickedness, the Doctor refused 
to absolve them, on the ground that they mani- 
fested no true penitence nor amendment. They 
then appealed to their papal letters, and to the 
grace and indulgence granted by Tetzel. Mar- 
tinus adhered to his decision, appealing to the 
passage : ' Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 

* Myconius, Hist. Reformationis von Cyprian, 1718, p. 21. 
Teutzel, Monatl. Unterredungen, 1697, p. 902. Vogel, Tetzel, 
276. 



Luther and the Erring. 105 

perish' (L,k. xiii. 5). As he would not absolve 
them, they returned to Tetzel, and complained to 
him that this Augustinian monk would pay no re- 
gard to their letters. Tetzel was at Jiiterbog, 
which place was at that time under the jurisdic- 
tion of the Archbishop of Magdeburg. When the 
news was brought to him, he became very angry, 
raging, scolding, and terribly cursing the pulpit, 
threatening to bring all manner of evil upon the 
arch-heretics, as he called the preaching-monks of 
the day. In order to terrify the people, he had a 
fire kindled in the market-place several times in 
the week, and announced that he had instructions 
from the Pope thus to burn the heretics, who op- 
posed the most holy father, the Pope, and his most 
holy indulgences." 

That Luther, when he refused in the confes- 
sional to have anything to do with the indulgence- 
business, and when he, in consequence of the as- 
saults which had been made upon him by the 
preacher of indulgences, Tetzel, made open decla- 
ration of his principles in the ninety-five theses, 
thereby placed his position and his life in jeopardy, 
is a universally acknowledged fact. This he well 
knew; but he knew also that no portion of the 
pure, true doctrine dare be surrendered, and that 
it was his duty, as a doctor of theology, pledged 



106 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

by oath to the Holy Scriptures, to venture every- 
thing in maintaining and defending the Word of 
God, and that he was under obligation, still fur- 
ther, as an ordained priest and regularly-called 
spiritual adviser, to admonish the erring who had 
been led astray into grievous error. The Reformer 
had a conscience, and the Reformation was the 
achievement of a good conscience opposing the 
conscienceless forgiveness of sins. 

Luther's entire reformatory activity may be re- 
garded from a single point of view, i. <?., as an ad- 
monition of the erring. He pointed the erring to 
the one Mediator between God and men, who alone 
has power to forgive sins and to help from death to 
life. He pointed the erring, who had been driven 
to leaking fountains in the wilderness, and lay 
there languishing, to the fountain of Holy Scrip- 
ture, and taught them with the hand of faith to 
draw from it and to drink the water of life. But it 
is not our purpose to dwell upon this reformatory 
activity, whose object was the salvation of souls in 
the congregation through public preaching. The 
care of souls, of which we now speak, has to do with 
single persons. The great Reformer, in his concern 
for all Christendom and for the many evangelical 
congregations in whose behalf he exerted himself, 
never lost from view the individual soul. Nor did 



Luther and the Erring. 107 

he wait until he was applied to for spiritual counsel, 
which occurred in countless instances and cost him 
a vast amount of effort and labor; but, wherever he 
found occasion and opportunity, he laid hold with 
a firm, skillful and decisive hand. He had a clear 
eye, and it was turned alike upon high and low. 
He approached high lords and common people 
without distinction, and, if they were in error, did 
not hesitate to admonish them. 

Count Albrecht, of Mansfeld, is a personality not 
entirely unknown in Reformation history. He was 
the first in Thuringia to cope successfully with the 
insurgent peasants, surprising them at Osterhau- 
sen, and had already in 1518 attached himself with 
such decision to the new doctrine, that he sent 
Luther warning, through the well-known Augus- 
tinian prior, Johann Lange, of the plots of cer- 
tain influential men against him.* In the course 
of time, however, the Count fell into wrong 
ways. He began to cherish doctrinal errors, and 
to repudiate utterly the obligations of brotherly 
love. Luther observed this with deep regret, and 
admonished his "gracious and heartily beloved 
liege-lord, the noble, high-born Lord Albrecht, 
Count of Mansfeld," in the following letter :f 

*Briefe. De Wette, 1, 129. 
flbid., 5, 512 ff. 



108 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

" Grace and Peace in the Lord, and my poor 
Pater-noster. Gracious Lord, I beg most earnestly 
that your Reverend Grace may accept this writing 
of mine in a Christian and gracious spirit. Your 
Reverend Grace knows that I am a child of the 
sovereignty of Mansfeld, and have to the present 
day cherished natural affection for my Fatherland, 
as even the books of all heathen nations declare 
that every child has a natural affection for his 
fatherland. Besides this, God accomplished in 
the beginning of the Gospel so many praiseworthy 
achievements through your Reverend Grace, so ex- 
cellently ordering the affairs of churches, pulpits 
and schools for the praise and glory of God, and 
made your Reverend Grace so eminently and glo- 
riously useful in quelling the insurrection of the 
peasants, that I, for such and other reasons, cannot 
so easily forget nor omit from my cares and prayers 
your Reverend Grace. 

" But it comes to my ears, chiefly through many 
rumors and complaints, that your Reverend Grace 
is said to have fallen away from the course first 
entered upon and to have become quite different, 
which, as I think your Reverend Grace will readily 
believe, if it were true, would cause me heartfelt 
sorrow for your Reverend Grace. For now people 
will talk against the Christian faith, and say, as I 



Luther and the Erring. 109 

have myself often heard: 'What need of the Gos- 
pel ? That which is fore-ordained must come to 
pass. Let us do what we will. If we are to be 
saved, we will be saved, etc' This is now thought 
to be great shrewdness and wisdom, although we 
theologians knew it long ago and also God himself. 
Should your Reverend Grace be entangled in these 
thoughts and temptations, it would cause me heart- 
felt sorrow, for I was once myself entangled in 
them, and had not Dr. Staupitz, or, rather, God 
through Dr. Staupitz, helped me out, I would 
have been drowned in them and would have been 
in hell long ago. For such diabolical thoughts 
finally drive the timid-hearted to despondency, 
despairing of the grace of God ; whilst those who 
are bold and courageous become despisers and 
enemies of God, and say: 'Let things go as they 
will! I will do as I please. I'm lost anyhow.' 

"How I wish that I could speak with your 
Reverend Grace face to face, for I am grieved 
beyond measure for the soul of your Reverend 
Grace, since I cannot esteem your Reverend Grace 
so lightly as the reprobate Henry's and Mentz's.* 

* " Heinzen und Meinzen." By the former of these terms 
we are to understand Henry VIII. King of England and Henry, 
Duke of Brunswick; by the latter, without doubt, the Elector 
Albrecht of Mentz, and perhaps others. 



no Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

One cannot talk so well to another with the pen. 
Nevertheless — to write briefly of this matter, my 
Gracious Lord — it is true, that what God has 
decreed must certainly come to pass; otherwise he 
would be a liar in his promises, upon which we 
must place our faith or shamefully fail, and that is 
impossible. But here is, at the same time, this 
great difference to be observed, namely: What 
God has revealed to us, promised or commanded, 
that we are to believe, and to act accordingly, 
assured that he will not lie: but what he has not re- 
vealed to us, nor promised, that we are not to and 
cannot know, much less can we act accordingly. 
Whoever troubles himself much about this, is 
tempting God, since he neglects that which he is 
commanded to know and to do, and concerns him- 
self about that which he is not commanded to 
know and to do. This can only produce people 
who ask not for God's Word and sacrament, but 
give themselves up to wild living, mammon, 
tyranny, and every kind of dissolute life. For, 
with such thoughts, they can have no faith, nor 
hope, nor love to man or to God, whom they de- 
spise, because they are not permitted to know what 
he secretly thinks; although he has so abundantly 
revealed himself in everything that can minister 
to their benefit or salvation, from which they 






Luther and the Erring. in 

wantonly turn away. No man would tolerate a 
servant, who should refuse to perforin his appointed 
duty, unless he knew in advance all the secret 
thoughts of his master in regard to all his pos- 
sessions. And shall God not have power likewise 
to have some secrets to himself, beyond that which 
he has commanded us? 

"Let your Reverend Grace only think how it 
would be, if we were to be guided by such thoughts 
of the secret judgments of God, for example : 
'Why does he permit his Sou to become man? 
Why does he establish family relations — father- 
hood and motherhood? Why does he ordain civil 
law and government? What more is needed? 
That which is to happen, will happen without all 
this ! What need is there of the devil, the Holy 
Scriptures, and all created things? What he wishes 
to do, he can do without any of these.' But we 
are told that he desires to accomplish his purpose, 
as far as now revealed, through us as fellow-labor- 
ers, i Cor. iii. 9 : therefore we should let him 
manage and not trouble ourselves about it, but do 
that which he has commanded us. Thus also says 
Solomon, Prov. xxv. : c He that would search out 
royalty shall be crushed;' * and Sirach iii. (vs. 22 
and 23): 'Understand not what is too high, but 

* Verse 27, according to the Vulgate, or old Latin version. 



ii2 Ltither as Spiritual Adviser. 

think what is commanded thee;' and when the 
disciples asked the Lord whether he would at that 
time establish the kingdom of Israel, he replied: 
' It is not for you to know the time or the hour, 
which my Father hath kept in his own power, but 
go ye and be my witnesses.' (Acts i. 7 and 8.) 
As though he should say: Let my Father and me 
see to the events of the future; go ye and do what 
I command you. 

"Accordingly, I beseech your Reverend Grace 
most earnestly not to forsake the Word and sacra- 
ment, for the devil is an evil spirit, far too cunning 
for your Reverend Grace, as likewise for all saints, 
to say nothing of all men; as I myself also dis- 
cover, although I am scarcely ever off my guard 
for a single day. Men so easily become cold, and 
their indifference grows ever greater: and if there 
were no other result of the devil's cunning, this 
would be reason enough to bid him flee without a 
moment's delay, and let the heart be warmed 
again. Thus, doubtless, your Reverend Grace 
himself feels that he is already cold and gone 
astray after mammon, aiming to become very rich, 
and also, according to common complaints, press- 
ing his subjects altogether too severely and sharply, 
thinking to take them from their ancestral homes 
and possessions, and almost to make them his own 



Luther and the Erring. 113 

property — which God will not endure, or, endur- 
ing, will bring the earldom to abject poverty. It 
is his gift, and he can easily take it away again, 
and that without recompense, as Haggai says 
(i. 6): 'Ye gather much, but ye put it into a bag 
with holes, and the Lord bloweth upon your grain 
till there is nothing left. ' 

" I have heard it said that some propose to intro- 
duce in Germany a form of government like that 
of France. Well, if they would stop first to ask; 
whether that would be right and well-pleasing to 
God, I would not object. Let it be considered, 
too, that the kingdom of France, which was once 
a golden, glorious kingdom, is now so impoverished; 
in both property and people, that it has become,, 
instead of a golden, a leaden kingdom, and that,, 
although formerly far-famed as the Christian king- 
dom, it has formed an alliance with the Turks. 
That is the way it goes when God and his Word 
are despised. 

t( I write thus candidly to encourage your Rev- 
erend Grace, for I am now much nearer to my 
grave than people think; and I beg, as before, 
that your Reverend Grace may deal more mildly 
and graciously with the subjects of your Reverend 
Grace, and allow them to remain; then shall your 
Reverend Grace also remain, by the blessing of 



114 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

God, both here and in the life to come.* Other- 
wise, you shall lose both worlds, and be like the 
man in iEsop's fable, who opened the goose that 
laid every day a golden Qgg y and thereby lost the 
golden eggs and the goose that laid them, or like 
the dog in iEsop, that lost the piece of meat by 
snapping at its reflection in the water: for it is 
most certainly true, as Solomon in so many of his 
proverbs says, that he who wants too much gets 
least of all. 

" To conclude, I am concerned for the soul of 
your Reverend Grace, which I cannot bear to have 
cast out of my cares and prayers, for that would to 
me mean, just as truly, cast out of the Church. I 
have been compelled to write, not only by the 
commandment of Christian love, but also by the 
severe threatening which God has announced to us 
in the third chapter of Ezekiel, namely, that we 
shall be condemned for others' sins. He says 
(verse 18): 'If thou tell not the sinner of his sin, 
and he die therein, I will require his soul at thy 
hands,' for to this end have I made thee a guardian 
of souls. 

U I trust your Reverend Grace will therefore 
receive kindly this exhortation, for I cannot allow 
myself to be condemned for the sin of your Rev- 

* Compare, for Albrecht's views, Briefe. De Wette, 5, 287. 



Luther and the Erring. 115 

erend Grace, but must on the contrary make every 
possible effort, that your Reverend Grace may 
with me be saved. Thus I shall at least be guilt- 
less before God. I commend you to the abounding 
grace and mercy of God. 

u Your Reverend Grace's willing and true-hearted, 
' ' M artinus Luther, D. 
u Day of the Innocents, in the year 1542" 

The interest which Luther manifested in the 
forlorn Hans Kohlhase has been mentioned in the 
preceding chapter. Hafftitius informs us that he 
also sent a warning to the depredating horseman. 
There is found in Luther's works a letter addressed 
to some unknown person, warning against the tak- 
ing of revenge. De Wette reports * that, accord- 
ing to a marginal note in a certain Wolfenbiittel 
codex, this letter was addressed to Kohlhase, which 
may very well have been the case. It runs thus: 

"Grace and Peace in Christ. My good Friend. 
I have been truly grieved, and yet grieve, as 
God knows, over your misfortune. It would have 
been better in the first place not to have un- 
dertaken revenge, since it cannot be undertaken 
without a burdening of the conscience; for a pri- 
vate vengeance is forbidden by God, Deut. xxxii. 

* Briefe, 4, 567. 



n6 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

35, Rom. xii. 19: 'Vengeance is mine, saith the 
Lord, I will repay,' etc, and it cannot be other- 
wise than that he who enters upon it shall run the 
risk of doing much against God and man which a 
Christian conscience cannot approve. 

"It is true, indeed, that your injury and dis- 
grace must give you pain, and that you are bound 
to redeem and maintain your honor, but not by 
sins or wrong-doing. Do what is right in the 
right way, says Moses : one wrong cannot right 
another. Now to make one's self a judge and ex- 
ecute judgment upon others is certainly wrong, 
and the wrath of God will not suffer it to go un- 
punished. What you can lawfully accomplish, it 
is right to do; but if you cannot thus secure your 
rights, then there is no other way but to suffer 
wrong. God, who permits you to suffer wrong, 
has assuredly some reason for it. He does not 
mean thereby to injure you, but can fully recom- 
pense you in some other way. Do not therefore 
be discouraged. 

"And what would you do, if he should yet fur- 
ther afflict — in wife, child, body and life ? Never- 
theless, you would still have to say, if you would 
be a Christian : ' My dear Lord God, I have well 
deserved it; thou art just, and thy punishment is 
altogether too light in proportion to my sins. And 



Luther and the Erring. 117 

what is all our suffering, compared with the suffer- 
ing of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ? 

"Accordingly, if, as you write, you desire my 
advice, it is this: Accept terms of peace wherever 
they can be obtained, and rather suffer injury in 
possessions and honor, than prosecute further an 
undertaking in which you must make yourself 
responsible for the sins and villainy of all who may 
follow your fortunes. They are, at any rate, not 
to be depended on; they have no true love for you, 
but are seeking gain for themselves. They will at 
length betray you, and you will then have the 
worst of the game. Don't paint the devil over 
your door, nor invite him to enter as a sponsor. 
He will come at any rate. Such companions are 
the devil's house-servants, and their end is com- 
monly in accordance with their deeds. 

"But you ought to consider what a grievous 
burden your conscience will have to carry if you 
knowingly bring ruin upon so many people, as 
you have no right to do. Be contented, for the 
glory of God regard your injury as inflicted by 
him, and for his sake endure it meekly. You 
will then see that he will bless you again, and so 
richly reward your labor that you will highly prize 
the patience which you have shown. To this may 
you be helped by Christ, our Lord, the teacher 



n8 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

and pattern of all patience, and the helper in dis- 
tress. Amen. 

1 ' Tuesday after St. Nicholas"* Day {Dec. <?), ijj^. ' ' 

Count Albrecht took to heart the admonition of 
Luther, and died in peace in a good old age; but 
Kohlhase, unfortunately, rejected the counsel of the 
spiritual adviser, and followed instead the advice 
of his comrade, George Nagelschmied, which 
brought him to the gallows. 

It could not be otherwise, but that just at the 
time of the Reformation the deepest interest should 
be aroused by the question, whether the princes of 
Germany had authority to take up arms against the 
Emperor; for Charles V. in various ways threat- 
ened and attempted to suppress by force the preach- 
ing of the Gospel, and to crush the evangelical 
church. Luther was, in consequence, applied to 
for his faithful counsel by many who could not 
decide for themselves, and knew not what course 
to pursue. He gives expression to his sound views 
upon this question in a short letter to Wenzel 
Link, pastor at Nuremberg :* 

"As you have just written and requested that 
we report to you whether it is true, as was written 
to you, that we have given counsel that the Bm- 

*Briefe. De Wette, 6, 127, and 4, 212. 



Luther and the Erring. 119 

peror may be resisted, I assure you in response 
that we have in no way given such counsel. But, 
as some were declaring that theologians have noth- 
ing to do with these things, and that they should 
not be consulted nor concern themselves about 
them, but the jurists, who say we may defend our- 
selves, I said for my own self : ' As a theologian, I 
do not advise it ; but, if the jurists can show and 
prove from their laws that it is right, they may see 
to that and bear the responsibility. For if the 
Emperor has appointed in his law that he may be in 
this case resisted, let him then be satisfied and sub- 
mit to the law which he has given and appointed 
or confirmed and approved ; yet I do not counsel 
nor give judgment in regard to this law which 
allows and permits self-defence, but I stick to my 
theology. I cheerfully acknowledge, and make no 
secret of it, that a prince or ruler is a worldly per- 
son, and therefore that which he does befitting a 
government, and in accordance with the laws, he 
does not as a Christian ; for a Christian is not a 
prince, nor government, nor vassal, nor any person- 
age in the world. Whether now a government, as 
a government, may resist the Kmperor and protect 
itself and its subjects from unjust violence, of that 
they may judge. I let them decide and answer to 
their consciences. It certainly is not befitting a 



120 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

Christian, as one who has died to the world, and 
has nothing at all to do with worldly affairs, nor 
concerns himself about them.' 

u So far has the matter gone, and you may report 
this to Herr L,azarus* as my opinion and senti- 
ment, although I see very clearly, that, however 
we may oppose it with all our powers, and cry 
aloud, they have so thoroughly made up their 
minds, determined and resolved, that they will cer- 
tainly defend themselves, and not suffer themselves 
to be driven or beaten. I may preach and say 
what I will, it is all in vain. God will be with us, 
and help, that there may be no occasion for resist- 
ance, for he is most certainly upon our side. Of 
this we have clear proof, for he has brought to 
naught the decisions of this Diet, so that they have 
thus far undertaken nothing against us; and he 
will do likewise in the future. But not all men 
have faith. I take comfort to myself in this, that, 
though they will not follow our advice, they will 
sin the less and act less rashly, if they plan their 
undertakings in accordance with written imperial 
laws, and if in so doing they fully believe that 
they are doing nothing contrary to the Scriptures 
and God's Word, because they undertake and do 

* Without doubt, the excellent city clerk of Nuremberg, Laz- 
arus Spengler. 









Luther and the Erring. 121 

nothing contrary to written law. So I let them 
go; I am free. 

December, 1530". 

Iyiither steadfastly maintained the principle: "A 
Christian should not resist, but suffer everything, 
and not take refuge in the pretext, ' it is allowable 
to repel violence with violence.' " * But he does 
not forget to add: "If, however, the laws of the 
jurists permit a Christian, not as a Christian, but 
as a citizen or member of a civil community, to 
resist, to that we do not object." f 

An error growing out of the canonical laws 
threatened at that time in the most alarming way 
the very foundations of domestic life. We refer to 
the endorsement of secret betrothals. It was very 
common for young people to become engaged 
without the knowledge of their parents, and such 
engagements, which most deeply undermined pa- 
rental authority and turned into derision all filial 
regard for father and mother, were acknowledged 
as binding, and as really equivalent to legal mar- 
riage. The Reformer regarded these secret be- 
trothals with abhorrence. He stood here like a 
wall of brass, which, whenever accidentally struck, 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 233. 
f Ibid. 



122 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

gives forth a loud, clear and long-reverberating 
tone. That Luther in this matter was far in ad- 
vance of his time, is proved especially by the 
powerful letter which he addressed to the con- 
sistory at Wittenberg in January, 1544.* How he, 
as a faithful spiritual adviser, admonishes the err- 
ing consistory, of which his own beloved Bugen- 
hagen was a member! 

" In the first place," he observes, " I should very 
gladly have been spared the unpleasant duty, but 
since I could not reconcile my conscience, as a 
spiritual adviser in this church, to the decision of 
the consistory, I have been compelled on account 
of my office to oppose it. Although I might 
have overlooked the sin committed both in the 
betrothals themselves and in their confirmation, 
involving so much lying and perjury, and such 
suspicious practices, that it seems, alas, impossible 
for any one to obtain justice without much injustice 
and sin (not to speak of the injury and injustice 
caused by delays, the course of litigation seeming 
to have no end, and it having become dangerous 
to be an honest jurist), yet I should have been 
compelled to speak, because the decision referred 
to tends to confuse and perplex consciences. 

u But the second and chief reason for my opposi- 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 233. 



Luther and the Erring. 123 

tion is that the whole business, namely, the secret 
betrothals of both parties, together with their con- 
firmation and the decision of the consistory, is 
nothing but a cunning piece of the devil's machin- 
ery, so constructed that through it the miserable 
Pope with his abominations of desolation may 
again sit in our church, and become at length 
worse than before he was driven out. Surely it 
was time for me to wake up and look into the mat- 
ter. For, inasmuch as our consistory knew, or at 
least ought to have known, what evil is being 
wrought in our church by secret betrothals, it 
should of right have acted very differently, i. e., it 
should have condemned secret betrothals, pro- 
hibited their confirmation, and should by no means 
have rendered such a decision as to commend to 
our poor youth, in an evil and extreme example, 
such a work of the devil. A secret betrothal 
cannot be anything else than the devil's business, 
brought about through the enemy of God and mur- 
derer of souls, the Pope, just as Daniel prophesied 
that the latter would set himself above and against 
God, and horribly assail every ordinance of God, 
such as ecclesiastical, civil and domestic govern- 
ment. Thus he has in this matter abolished the 
fourth commandment of God, permitted and taught 
children to be disobedient to their parents, to be- 



124 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

come robbers and steal themselves from their par- 
ents by secret betrothal, in which the honor and au- 
thority over their children and property given and 
committed to parents by God is brought to naught. 
Still further, as was most befitting in him who is 
the man of sin and the son of perdition, he has 
praised and rewarded such abominable sin against 
God and parents as a good and precious work. 

"He has thus deeply distressed parents, and has 
indeed caused some to die of grief, as might very 
easily have been the case recently with Magister 
Philip (Melanchthon), whom I had to restrain by 
force from hastily giving his consent to his son's 
betrothal, and who, having before been similarly 
distressed by the betrothal of his daughter, and 
complained that his children were so wretchedly 
stolen from him, would now, if he had made a ser- 
ious mistake in the case of his son, have grieved 
himself to death. 

u Now, since we, by the grace of God through 
his holy Word, know what secret betrothal is, 
namely, — a work of the devil; a shameful sin of 
disobedience against God and earthly parents; a 
thief and robber so cruel that he wickedly steals, 
robs and snatches away from me, not only money 
and property, but my dearest treasure upon earth, 
my daughter or my son, perhaps the only son or 



Luther and the Erring. 125 

daughter; and, besides, a jailer and murderer of 
parents — we should, therefore, when it is learned 
that a secret betrothal has been made, with all our 
power urge the parties to it to say nothing about 
it, rebuke them sharply, not allow them to apply to 
the court, but by all means restore all things to the 
former condition, and set free and give back to 
their parents the son and daughter stolen by the 
betrothal, tear to pieces and condemn the certificate 
of betrothal, as it is before God accursed and con- 
demned. Thus we shall not need to endure the 
wretchedness which the devil seeks to bring upon us. 
We do not need to set fleas in the wool, nor to permit 
or teach children to be disobedient ; as it is, they 
disobey far more than is agreeable to God or to us. 
"A thief who steals ten or twenty florins is hung; 
but this thief, who steals from me my child and 
tortures me to death, I must salute as a benefactor 
and saint, and welcome him to my estate, in which 
I can no longer find pleasure, in order that thus the 
iniquity committed against me may be right glo- 
riously rewarded and honored. Thanks to thee, 
most holy Pope, for thy good doctrine ! Thanks, 
too, are due to those popish jurists, with whom we 
are so very anxious to associate in the Church of 
Christ, even whilst they are trying to break down 
what we build up and to build up what we break 
down !" 



126 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Contending thus strenuously for the power of 
parents over their children, L,uther sought just as 
earnestly to impress upon the minds of parents that 
their authority is not unlimited. The son of a 
widow of Stolberg, Ursula Schneider, had de- 
clared his love to a young woman of Wittenberg, 
and had returned home to secure the consent of 
his mother. The widow Schneider, who had 
learned of Luther's approval, did not give, as he 
had hoped, a favorable answer, and the son accord- 
ingly did not return. The Reformer then exhorted 
the mother to give her consent without delay:* 
" But since the minx pleases him so greatly, and 
is of about his own rank, and a good honest child, 
of honorable parentage, it therefore still seems to 
me that you ought to be well satisfied, since he has 
in filial spirit, like Samson, humbled himself and 
begged for this minx. It will become you now, 
as a loving mother, to reconcile your will to the 
situation. For, although we have writtenf that 
children should not engage themselves in marriage 
without the will of their parents, we have, at the 
same time, also written that parents should not, 
and cannot with God's approval, compel or hinder 
their children according to their own pleasure. 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 186 (June 4, 1539). Comp. 2, 511. 
f Comp. Von Ehesachen, 1530. 



Luther and the Erring. 127 

The son should, indeed, bring no daughter to his 
parents without their consent ; but the father, like- 
wise, should force no wife upon his son. They 
should both have something to say in the matter. 
Otherwise, the son's wife must become the father's 
daughter, and owe the latter no thanks." 

As Luther thus sought to promote a proper con- 
ception of the. relations between parents and chil- 
dren, he was equally concerned for the observance 
of propriety in the marital relation. Although he 
very often in letters refers in a jocular way to his 
"Lord Katie," he was not disposed to tolerate the 
headship of the wife over her husband. This was 
known to Stephan Roth, town-clerk of Zwickau, 
who accordingly upon some pretext sent to him his 
insubordinate wife to have her ideas upon this sub- 
ject corrected. The woman was too shrewd for 
him, however, and did not go to Luther. The 
latter then gave the faint-hearted husband a com- 
plete overhauling in the following terms: * 

"Grace and Peace in Christy together with Proper 
Control over your Wife. Your lady lord and ruler, 
my Stephan, whose disregard of your authority 
much displeases me, has not yet come to me. But 
I am beginning to be angry at you, too, that you 
should through the weakness of your disposition, 

* Briefe. De Wette 3, 302. 6, 93 (Apr. 12, 1528). 



128 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

which needs to be fortified by Christian obedience, 
have suffered this dominion to be established, and 
to become so powerful. It now appears to be 
your fault that your wife thus takes every advan- 
tage of you. Surely, when you observed that the 
ass was becoming fractious from good feeding, or, in 
other words, that your wife was taking advantage 
of your indulgent and yielding disposition and be- 
coming insubordinate, you should have considered 
that it is a man's duty to obey God rather than his 
wife, that is, that the authority of the husband, 
which St. Paul says is the glory of God, dare not 
be despised by her and trodden under foot. It is 
enough, that this glory of God should be so far laid 
aside as to take upon itself the form of a servant: 
but it is too much, when it is entirely rejected, ex- 
tinguished and brought to nought. See to it, there- 
fore, that you act like a man, and so bear the in- 
firmity of your wife as not to confirm her in wick- 
edness, nor, by your base servility, dishonor by a 
most dangerous example the glory of God which 
has been committed to you. It is easy enough to 
draw the line between infirmity and wickedness. 
Infirmity must be borne, but wickedness must be 
repressed. Infirmity is quite willing to hear and 
learn, at least once in twelve hours; but wickedness 
is stiff-necked and stubborn in its resistance. If 



Luther and the Erring. 129 

your wife sees that you regard her wickedness as 
an infirmity, what wonder if she becomes utterly 
depraved! You thus of your own fault throw the 
window wide open for Satan to come in, and mock 
and irritate and pester you in every way through, 
the poor weaker vessel. You are a sensible man,, 
and may the Lord grant you to understand what I' 
say, and to believe that I have sincerely' tried to, 
give the best advice both to yourself and to your 
wife, and to ward off Satan. Farewell in Christ." 
As Luther in this instance admonished an erring 
friend, so it was his custom, whenever he observed a 
failing in any one of his friends or brethren, to take 
a hand in the matter and restore order again. He 
heard at one time that a good friend of his in Sax- 
ony was taking private matters into the pulpit. "A 
private matter," he writes,* "ought to be passed 
over in silence and suppressed, and, like a family 
quarrel, left to wander up and down in its own place. 
It ought not to be proclaimed from the housetop, 
which always makes things worse. My advice is: 
Let it alone, and learn to be patient and keep your 
mouth shut, that the noble little flower, patience,. 
may be seen. May the God of peace be with you, 
and your angry feelings will then soon pass away."t' 

* Briefe. De Wette, 6, 427. 
flbid., 5, 574 (July 13, 1543)- 
9 



130 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

He does not permit even those of his friends 
who occupy the most exalted stations to do as they 
please. To a Spalatin he represents,* that he 
ought to treat his school-master in a fraternal spirit 
and not be too unyielding in the maintaining of 
his rights; and to Justus Jonas, f that it was not 
very becoming to bring home the second wife so 
soon after the death of the first. 

The Reformer set up and maintained a lofty 
standard of attainment for the pastors of churches, 
but he indignantly rebuked and admonished those 
who made unreasonable demands upon them. To 
Magister Johann Schreiner, pastor and superintend- 
ent at Grimma, he writes somewhat passionately \% 
"Grace and Peace in Christ. My dear Magister 
and Pastor. Be kind enough to say to the nobility, 
or whoever they may be, if Spalatin will not do it, 
that we cannot make pastors just as they would 
like to have them, and that they ought to thank 
God that they can have the pure Word spelled for 
them out of a book, since they in former times, 
under the Pope, heard nothing but the foul spurt- 
ings of the devil, and had to pay dearly enough 
for them. Who can give to these noble people for 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 574 (July 13, 1543.) 

flbid., 5,556 (May 4, 1543). 

J Ibid., 5, 69 (July 9, 1537). Compare 4, 194. 



Luther and the Erring. 131 

their begging nothing but Doctor Martins and 
Magister Philips for pastors? If they will have 
none but St. Augustines and Jeromes, let them 
find these for themselves. If a pastor is satisfac- 
tory and faithful to his Lord Christ, surely a noble- 
man, who is perceptibly less exalted than Christ, 
should also be satisfied. A prince has to be satis- 
fied in his worldly government, if he can find in 
the whole circle of his nobility three hewn stones, 
and must be patient with the others, who answer 
only for filling in. Such matters as this you ought 
to arrange in your own district, for we, without 
having this put upon us, are already so overbur- 
dened with the affairs of all lands, that we have no 
rest nor peace. You may show this letter to prin- 
ces or lords, or to whomsoever you will, for aught 
I care. ' ' 

It appeared that every one who was unable to 
satisfy his own mind in questions of duty, or feared 
to reach wrong conclusions, turned with confidence 
to the Reformer. The papal clergy at Leipzig de- 
termined to give to every Easter communicant a 
coin, by means of which he might certify to the 
civil authorities that he had properly received the 
Holy Supper. Many were perplexed, and inquired 
of Luther whether they dare receive the Holy 
Sacrament in the one element, or secure the coin 



132 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

in some other way. u Since now," he decides,* 
"Duke George undertakes to search out even se- 
cret matters of conscience, he deserves indeed, as 
an apostle of the devil, to be deceived in any way 
that can be devised ; for, in making such demands, 
he has neither right nor justice on his side, but 
sins against God and the Holy Spirit. But since 
we must consider, not what other and wicked peo- 
ple do, be they murderers or robbers, but what 
it is proper for us to suffer and to do, it will in 
this case be the best course to say boldly, in the 
face of the murderers and robbers: I will not do 
it. If you take from me on this account my prop- 
erty and my body, you will be taking them from 
Another, who will demand restitution to the last 
drop of blood, as Peter says (Acts x. 42), 'Jesus 
Christ has been ordained to be a judge of quick 
and dead.' n 

The sister of Jerome Weller, Barbara Lasskir- 
chen,t of Freiberg, inquired through her brother 
whether she might receive the Holy Sacrament in 
both elements secretly at home. This he will not 
and cannot advise: " for after a while," he writes, J 
i 'every one might wish to receive it in this way, 

*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 443 and 6, 141 (April 11, 1533). 
flbid., 6, 543- 
t Ibid., 4, 59 6 - 



Luther and the Erring. 133 

and thus the general church and assembly be for- 
saken and desolate, although it is intended to be a 
public and common confession. If you can receive 
it at some other place, as opportunity may offer, 
and will take the responsibility, since your con- 
science desires it and is satisfied, you may do it in 
the name of God, to whom I commend you in my 
poor prayers. ' ' 

A good friend at Linz, on the Danube, Sigmund 
Hangreuter,* requests through Wolfgang Brauer, 
pastor at Jessen, a decision of the question, whether 
he might not administer the Lord's Supper to him- 
self and his family. The categorical response to 
this inquiry is, No ; u because he has no such call- 
ing nor command, and because, if the tyrannical 
ecclesiastics, whose duty it is, refuse to admin- 
ister the sacrament to him and his, he can yet be 
saved without it by his faith." 

A certain member of the nobility comes to him 
with the question, whether he can with a good 
conscience be present at the coronation of the 
bishop in Merseburg. " Since I cannot know," is 
the reply, f "what is the state of your heart, I can 
give no counsel in the matter; you must be your 
own counselor. So far as it is proper for one to 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 38 (Dec. 27, 1536). 
t Ibid., 4, 633 (Sept. 19, 1535). 



134 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

give counsel to another touching external affairs, I 
have given mine sufficiently in writing and in pub- 
lic declarations, and have thus done my part. Be- 
yond this, I cannot burden myself with the sins, 
least of all with the secret sins, of other people." 

Extremely interesting is the relation of Luther 
to Dorothea Jorger, a widow residing at Toilet, 
later at Koppach, in Austria. Already in the first 
of his twelve letters to her which have reached us, 
he calls her his "best, faithful friend."* She 
placed in the Reformer's hands generous contribu- 
tions for the support of poor, worthy students of 
theology. At one time, October 24th, 1533, he ac- 
knowledges the receipt of 500 guldens, f She 
sought and received his counsel in all her affairs, 
told him her troubles, and rested her hope upon 
him. Thus, desiring to give her daughters a share 
in the inheritance of her property, she inquired 
what to do, since the former had some time before 
signed a disclaimer to the estate. He replies 
openly and honorably \% "My opinion is, that if 
you can by kindness prevail upon your sons to give 
their consent, your desire can be carried out; but, 
if this cannot be accomplished, and your daughters 

* Briefe. De Wette, 3, 150. 

flbid., 4, 490. 

t Ibid., 5, 10 (July 31, 1536). 



Lather and the Erring. 135 

have already surrendered their claims, it cannot 
lay any burden upon your conscience if you are 
unable to secure again for them what they have 
given away." She even asks of him and secures 
a memorandum for a Christian form of last will 
and testament.* 

Christoph Jorger, presumably the oldest son of 
the above-mentioned lady, always regarded the 
Reformer as his counselor in questions of con- 
science. He, as an officer at Vienna, had attended 
the religious services of the Roman Catholics, and 
had thereby given offence to the adherents of the 
evangelical doctrines. Luther, applied to for his 
advice, replied :f " First of all, since you find your 
conscience burdened in this matter, you can find 
no better adviser nor doctor than just that very 
conscience of yours. Why do you wish to live in 
such a way that your conscience shall be all the 
while biting and lashing you and leaving you no 
rest ? That would be indeed, as they used to say, 
to live in a forecourt of hell. Therefore, if your con- 
science is restless and uncertain in this matter, try 
by all means to free yourself from this restlessness, 
for it works against faith, which tends to make the 
conscience ever more secure and firm. Remain at 

*Briefe. De Wette, 6, 139 (Jan. 1, 1533). 
flbid., 6, 355; 4, 659; 5, 612 (Dec. 31, 1543). 



136 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

home, as before, with the Word, for should you 
sacrifice with the others in the procession, and do 
other things of that kind, your conscience would 
protest against it To do such things, after you 
have learned the truth, would be to take your 
place with those who have denied the truth, 
as Paul says in Romans xiv. 23 : i He who 
acts contrary to his conscience is condemned,' or, 
as his words read, 'Whatsoever cometh not of 
faith is sin/ All this, and more, you have I trust 
sufficiently understood from the Scriptures and 
other books, which instruct and preserve the con- 
science. Your king is, in such affairs, the devil's 
servant." Jorger followed this advice and re- 
signed his office, upon which Luther congratulates 
him under date of April 17th, 1545.* 

*JBriefe. De Wette, 5, 729. 



CHAPTER V. 
HOW LUTHER COMFORTED THE MOURNING. 

f" UTHER was a man of cheerful, joyous piety. 
" U A Christian should be a cheerful man," is a 
saying of his* which well deserves to be laid to heart 
by all. He maintained also that every Christian 
can be cheerful, if he will but consider what he is 
and what he has. A certain nun, he relates, was 
accustomed to say to herself, "I am a Christian," 
and thus banish the evil spirit of sadness and mel- 
ancholy. "Say likewise to yourself," he exhorts, 
"though all else be lost, yet I believe that Christ 
still lives, and I am baptized and am perfectly sat- 
isfied with the Gospel; I am therefore no enemy 
of the sacraments, nor of the Lord himself, but 
truly believe that he is a Saviour: the devil can 
bring up nothing against this, "f 

He could not endure to see any one in sadness, 
but was impelled to comfort all such with the com- 
fort wherewith he had been comforted by the God 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 316 a. Forst., 3, 123. 
f Ibid., 321 a. Forst., 3, 138. 

(137) 



138 Luther as Spiritital Adviser. 

of all grace, and thus fill their sorrowing hearts 
again with joy. 

"Grace and Peace in Christ" — thus he writes to 
Matthias Weller at Freiberg — * " Honorable, kind 
and dear Friend. Your dear brother tells me that 
you are greatly troubled in spirit, and tempted to 
give way to sorrow. He will no doubt tell you 
what I have said to him. Now, my dear Matthias, 
do not in this matter depend upon your own 
thoughts, but hear what other people have to say; 
for God has given commandment, that one man 
shall comfort another, and it is his wish, also, that 
the afflicted shall receive such comfort as his own 
voice. He says through St. Paul: 'Comfort the 
faint-hearted' (1 Thes. v. 14), and in Isaiah xl. 
8 : ' Comfort, comfort ye my people and speak 
kindly to them,' and elsewhere: ' It is not my will 
that a man should be sad, but ye shall serve 
me with cheerfulness, and bring no sacrifice with 
sadness,' as Moses and the prophets so often 
and earnestly admonish. He has therefore also 
commanded that we should not be cumbered with 
care, but cast our care on him, since he will care 
for us, as Peter (first epistle, v. 7) teaches from 
the 55th Psalm (verse 23). 

u Since, then, it is God's wish that one comfort 
* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 556, and 6, 551. 



Luther and the Mourning. 139 

another, and that every one receive the comfort 
offered; therefore let your thoughts go, and be sure 
that the devil is using them to worry you, and that 
they are not your thoughts, but the suggestions of 
the miserable devil, who cannot endure that we 
should have a cheerful thought. 

"Hear now, therefore, what we say to you in the 
name of God, namely, that you should be cheerful in 
Christ, who is your gracious Lord and Deliverer, 
and let him care for you, as he most assuredly does, 
even though you do not yet have what you desire. 
He still lives; place full confidence in him. That 
will please him, the Scriptures say, as the best 
sacrifice; for there is no more pleasing and accept- 
able sacrifice than a cheerful heart, that rejoices in 
the Lord. 

"Therefore, when you feel sad and almost over- 
whelmed, just say: ' Come, I must play a hymn to 
our Lord Christ upon the organ,, and sing praises 
to him, for the Scriptures teach me that he delights 
in cheerful music and song.' Strike the keys with 
vigor, and sing away until your evil thoughts are 
gone, as did David and Elisha. If the devil comes 
again to disturb you with any care or thought of 
sadness, defend yourself boldly, and say: 'Away 
with you, devil! I must now sing and play to my 
Lord Christ' Thus you must learn to really resist 



140 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

him, and not allow him to put thoughts into your 
head; for, if you let one in and listen, he will drive 
in after it ten other thoughts until you are over- 
powered. There is nothing better, therefore, than 
right at the first to smite him on the snout. L,ike 
that man who, whenever his wife began to pick 
and bite at him, drew out his flute from his girdle 
and piped away with all his might, until she was 
at last tired out and left him in peace; so strike 
your organ keys, or call in good companions, and 
sing away until you learn to despise the devil." 

But Luther knew full well that persons in sorrow 
have not always power to exorcise the spirit of 
sadness, and to draw for themselves the proper 
comfort from the Word and works of God. He 
was therefore always, with diligent and sympa- 
thizing hand, extending to the sorrowing friendly 
and inspiring comfort, out of the fountain which 
ever flowed for him. No trouble seemed to him so 
trifling, no sorrow so insignificant, as to be unworthy 
of his ministry of comfort. 

We know how little he himself cared for money 
and property, and yet he does not despise to offer 
consolation upon the loss of wealth. 

u Grace and Peace in the Lord," he writes to 
some one unknown to us,* "Honorable, discreet 

* Briefe. De Wette, 5, 473. 



Luther ajid the Mourning. 141 

and good Friend. Your dear son has informed me 
that you are greatly worried over the loss of the 
property which has been taken from you, and that 
you desire a few words of comfort from me. Now, 
my dear Friend, I am truly sorry that you are 
called to bear this burden and sorrow. May Christ, 
the very best Comforter of all the distressed, com- 
fort you, as he certainly can and will. Amen. 

" Remember that you are not the only one whom 
the devil brings into distress. Job was afflicted, 
and not only robbed of every thing but his skin, but 
made to suffer terribly in body and spirit: yet 
God overruled all for good, and he was again richly 
comforted. Recall what the 55th Psalm (verse 22) 
teaches : 'Cast thy burden upon the L,ord ; he will 
provide for thee,' and St. Peter (first epistle, v. 7), 
following the above, ( Beloved brethren, cast all 
your anxious care upon him, for he careth for you.' 
Although you may suffer pain for a while, he is 
yet faithful and sure, and will help at the right 
time, as he says in Psalm 1. 15: ' Call upon me in 
the day of trouble; so will I deliver thee, and 
thou shalt glorify me,' for he is called in Psalm ix. 
9, 'a timely Helper in trouble.' 

1 ' What are our sufferings, compared with those 
which the Son of God innocently and for us en- 
dured? Our weakness makes our sufferings heavy 



142 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

and great; they would be lighter if we were 
stronger. With this I commend you to God. 
( ' Tuesday after Exaudi, 154.2. ' ' 



The theologians and jurists of Saxony at the 
Diet of Augsburg were filled with anxiety, fearing 
the very worst, for the enemies of the Gospel were 
so numerous, so powerful and so insolent. Luther's 
genial, beloved sponsor, the noble chancellor, 
Gregory Briick, was the most hopeful man yet 
among them. With what masterly skill does the 
Reformer confirm the weak heart of this man, and 
through him comfort the fearful and sorrowful! 

"Grace and Peace in Christ," he begins.* 
"Estimable, learned, dear Lord and Sponsor. I 
have now several times written to my most gra- 
cious Lord and to our friends. Indeed, I fear that 
I have written too much, especially to my most gra- 
cious Lord, as though I had any doubt that the com- 
fort and grace of God were more abundant and 
stronger with your Reverend Grace than with me. 
But I have been instigated to do it by our friends, 
some of whom are so despondent and anxious, as 
though God had forgotten us. He cannot forget 
us, unless he first forget himself, or unless our 
cause be not his cause and our doctrine not his 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 127. 



Luther and the Mourning. 143 

Word. But if we are certain of this, and do not 
doubt that it is his cause and Word, then is our 
prayer also certainly heard, and help has been de- 
cided upon and prepared for us. This cannot fail, 
for he says (Isa. xlix. 15): ' Can a woman forget her 
sucking child, that she should not have compassion 
upon the fruit of her body? And though she 
should forget it, yet will I not forget thee: behold, 
I have graven thee upon my hand.' 

"I have lately seen two wonderful things. First, 
as I was looking out of my window, I saw the 
stars in the sky and the whole beautiful firmament 
of God; and yet I saw nowhere any pillar set up by 
the Master to support this firmament. Still, the 
sky did not fall, and the firmament is yet standing 
securely. Now there are some who look for such 
pillars, and would like to lay hold of them and feel 
them, and because they cannot do this they tremble 
and go into convulsions, as though the sky w T ould 
now certainly fall, for no other reason than because 
they cannot lay hold upon or see the pillars. If 
they could only grasp these, the sky would cer- 
tainly stand secure. 

"The other wonder which I saw was this: Great, 
thick clouds were floating over us, so heavy that 
they might be compared to a great ocean, and yet 
I saw no foundation upon which they rested or 



144 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

stood, nor any tubs in which they were held. 
Nevertheless, they did not fall upon us, but greeted 
us with a threatening countenance, and fled away. 
When they were past, there shone out that which 
held them up, as both their support and our roof, 
the rainbow. Yet this was such a weak, thin, 
paltry foundation and roof, that it too vanished in 
the clouds and appeared more like a shadow (or re- 
flection through colored glass) than a powerful 
foundation, so that one would have cause to fear 
on account of the foundation as much as on ac- 
count of the great weight of waters. Nevertheless, 
it proved to be the fact, that this frail shadow bore 
up the weight of waters and protected us. Yet 
there are some who, in their fear, look upon and 
regard the thick and heavy weight of waters and 
clouds more than this thin, narrow and light 
shadow. They would like to feel the strength of 
this shadow ; and, because they cannot do this, 
they are afraid that the clouds will produce an 
everlasting deluge. 

"I write thus in friendly jest to Your Worship, 
and yet in all seriousness, for I have learned with 
special pleasure that Your Worship has, above all 
others, kept up good courage and a brave heart in 
this our trial. I had, indeed, hoped that it might 
be possible to maintain at least civil peace; but 



Luther and the Mourning. 145 

God's thoughts are far above our thoughts, and it is 
right as it is, for he answers and does ' above that 
which we ask or understand' (Eph. iii. 20). 'For 
we know not how we should ask' (Rom. viii. 26). 
Should he now answer us just as we ask, i. e., that 
the Emperor might give us peace, then it would 
perhaps be beneath and not above that which we 
understand, and the Emperor would receive the 
honor, and not God. But now he wishes himself 
to give us peace, so that he alone may have the 
honor, which is due to him alone. 

"We would not in this despise the Imperial 
Majesty, but we pray and wish that the Imperial 
Majesty may undertake nothing against God and 
the imperial law. But should this occur (God then 
help us !), we would, nevertheless, as faithful sub- 
jects, not believe that the Imperial Majesty did it, 
but think that some other and tyrannical persons 
did it under the name of the Imperial Majesty, and 
we should thus discriminate between the name of 
the Imperial Majesty and the work of tyrants, just 
as we discriminate when heretics and liars use the 
name of God, honoring the name of God while we 
shun the lies of those who use it. Thus we neither 
can nor should at all approve nor accept the 
schemes of tyrants, wdiich they prosecute under the 
name of the Imperial Majesty. 
10 



146 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

u But such work as God in his grace has given us 
to do, he will by his Spirit bless and carry forward, 
and he will, without forgetting or neglecting, find 
the way, the time and the place to help us. They 
have not accomplished, these men of blood, the 
half of what they had at this time designed, nor 
are they yet at home, nor where they would like to 
be. Our rainbow is weak; their clouds are power- 
ful ; but at the end it will be seen of what material 
both are made. May Your Worship take my 
prattle kindly, and comfort M. Philip and all the 
others. May Christ also comfort and preserve our 
most gracious Lords. To him be praise and 
thanks to eternity. Amen. To his grace I faith- 
fully commend also Your Worship. 

1 ' Loneliness ( Coburg\ August 5, ijjo. ' ' 

It is very remarkable with what skill I^uther thus 
employed the works of God's hand to give courage 
to the disheartened; but he, above all, delighted in 
drawing comfort for the sorrowing from the ex- 
haustless fountain of the Holy Scriptures. This he 
was ready to do whenever misfortune of any kind 
befell any one of his many acquaintances. Hearing 
that his friend, Jerome Baumgartner, had been 
surprised and taken prisoner while on a journey, by 
a knight in Franconia, Johann Thomas, of Rosen- 



Luther and the Mourning. 147 

berg, who in his quarrel with the city of Nurem- 
berg sought thus to avenge himself upon a highly 
esteemed native of that city, he immediately sat 
down and wrote to the distressed wife of Baumgart- 
ner:* 

" Grace and Peace in our dear Saviour and Lord 
Jesus Christ. Honorable, virtuous, dear Lady. How 
deeply my heart is grieved by your sorrow and mis- 
fortune, is known to God, who sees and hears my 
groanings. Every heart, indeed, grieves for the 
beloved, noble man, that he should be so wickedly 
held in the hands of the enemies. May God hear 
our prayers and those of all pious hearts; for it is 
certain, that all pious hearts are praying fervently 
for him, and it is certain, also, that such prayers 
are heard by God and acceptable to him. 

" Meanwhile, we must take comfort from the di- 
vine promise, repeated so often in the Psalter, that 
he will not forsake nor forget his people; for we 
know that your husband is a true man in the faith 
of Christ, which he has grandly made known and 
adorned with many noble fruits. It is therefore 
not possible that God should have cast him off, but, 
as he has through his holy Word called him to 
himself and received him to his gracious bosom, so 
he is now still keeping and will daily and forever 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 672. 



148 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

keep him in his bosom. He is yet the same God, 
who, up to the time of this misfortune, kept him as 
his own dear Christian and a child of life; and he 
will still remain for him the same God, even though 
he for a short time assume a different attitude, to 
test a little our faith and patience. He has said 
(John xvi. 20, 22): ' Ye shall weep and lament, but 
your sorrow shall be turned into joy, which no one 
shall take from you!' This promise he will keep 
for us without fail. 

u Our sufferings have not yet become so deep and 
bitter as were those of his own dear Son and of 
the mother of our Lord. By the thought of these 
we should be comforted and strengthened in our 
sufferings, as St. Peter teaches us (first epistle, iii. 
18): 'Christ has once suffered for us, the just for the 
unjust.' Though the devil and his followers now 
rejoice in our misfortune, they shall yet have to 
lament bitterly enough, and for their brief joy they 
shall have long mourning. But we have the great 
and glorious advantage, that God is gracious and 
friendly to us, as well as all the angels and the uni- 
verse, and that, therefore, the misfortunes of these 
bodies cannot injure our souls, but must, on the 
contrary, be useful to us, as St. Paul says, Rom. 
viii. 28: 'We know that all things must work 
for good to them that love God.' According to 



Luther and the Mourning, 149 

the body, it gives us pain, and should and must 
give us pain, as otherwise we would not be true 
Christians, suffering with Christ and weeping with 
those that weep. 

"Therefore, my dear Lady, pray and have pa- 
tience, for you do not suffer alone, but you have 
many, many noble, faithful, pious hearts, that sym- 
pathize most deeply with you, and that are now 
acting according to the Scripture (Matt. xxv. 36): 
4 1 was in prison and ye came unto me.' Yea, 
verily, in a great throng we visit the beloved 
Baumgartner in his prison, that is, the Lord Christ 
himself, imprisoned in the person of his faithful 
member. We pray and call upon God to deliver 
him, and thus fill you and all of us with rejoic- 
ing. May the Lord Jesus himself, who bids us 
comfort one another, and who also comforts us 
through his blessed Word, comfort and strengthen 
your heart through his Spirit in unwavering pa- 
tience until the blessed end of this and every mis- 
fortune. To him, with the Father and the Holy 
Spirit, be praise and glory forever. Amen. 

"Martinus Luther, D. 
' ' Tuesday after Visitationis Marice {July 7), in the 
year 1544. ' ' 

Seldom indeed did any one within the circle of 



150 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Luther's acquaintances suffer any domestic afflic- 
tion without receiving from him, either through 
some other friend or directly in writing, a word of 
comfort. When we glance at the number of con- 
solatory letters in his own handwriting, and take 
into consideration that he was constantly impor- 
tuned by all kinds of people in his home, fairly 
overwhelmed with all kinds of questions, and 
really overburdened with a mass of labor to us 
almost incredible, we must acknowledge that the 
sentiment of friendship was with him most remark- 
ably keen and strong, his sympathy deep and last- 
ing. His exhortations were at all times drawn 
from the innermost sanctuary of faith and love, and 
distinguished by tenderness and wisdom. 

To a woman whose husband had died in conse- 
quence of an injury which he had inflicted upon 
himself, as to the cause of which nothing definite 
was known, he wrote as follows:* 

"Grace and Peace in Christ. Honorable, virtu- 
ous Lady. Your son has reported to me the misfor- 
tune and misery which have befallen you through 
the departure of your dear husband, and I am im- 
pelled by Christian love to address to you these few 
words of comfort. 

" First of all, let it comfort you, that, in the 

* Briefe. De Wette, 3, 407. 



Luther and the Mourning, 151 

severe conflict through which your dear husband 
passed, Christ at length gained the final victory, 
and that your husband departed in the L,ord, in the 
possession of reason and Christian consciousness. 
I was beyond measure pleased and delighted to hear 
this, for thus Christ himself also struggled in the 
garden, and at length conquered and rose from the 
dead. 

"Although your husband inflicted the fatal in- 
jury upon himself, it may be that the devil, who 
has power over our members, moved his hand by 
force against his own will; for if he had done it of 
his own will, he would surely not have come to 
himself again, nor have made such a confession of 
faith in Christ. How often does not the devil 
break people's arms, necks, backs, and all their 
members! He can exercise his power over the 
body and members without our will. 

"You should, therefore, as I trust you will, bow 
submissively to God, and count yourself as one of 
that multitude of whom Christ says (Matt. v. 4): 
'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
comforted.' All saints must sing the Psalm (xliv. 
22): l For thy sake are we killed all the daylong; 
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.' There 
must be sorrow and misfortune, if we are to share 
the promised comfort. 



152 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

' l Thank God, too, for the great mere)', that your 

husband was not left in conflict and despair, as 

some have been, but was by the grace and power 

of God delivered from these, and found at last 

steadfast in Christian faith and in God's Word. 

Of such it is said, Rev. xiv. 13 : 'Blessed are they 

that die in the Lord.' And Christ himself said, 

John xi. 25: 'Whoso believeth on me, though he 

were dead, yet shall he live.' With these words 

may God, the Father, comfort you in Christ Jesus. 

Amen. 

"Martintjs Luther. 

"At Wittenberg \ Tuesday Lucice {Dec. 75), in the 

year 1528. ' ' 

When M. Johann Cellarius, pastor at Dresden, 
died in the Lord, April 21, 1541, at the age of 
forty-six,* his widow received from her husband's 
friend the following letter :f 

"Grace and Peace in Christ. Honorable, vir- 
tuous and dear Lady. I have been pained to learn 
that God, our dear Father, has suffered his chas- 
tening rod to fall upon you, and upon us as well, 
in taking from you and from us the dear man, M. 
Johannes Cellarius, your husband, and has thus 
i brought grief upon us all, although we know that 

* Briefe. De Wette, 6, 486. 
flbid., 5, 469. 



Luther and the Mourning. 153 

our friend has entered into sweet, blessed rest. 
But let it comfort you, that your sorrow is not the 
greatest among the children of men, many of whom 
have to suffer and endure that which is a hundred 
times worse. And though the sufferings of .all of 
us who live upon the earth were gathered upon one 
heap, they would yet be as nothing compared with 
that which the Son of God endured for us, and for 
our salvation ; for there is no death worthy to be 
compared with the death of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, through which we all are saved from 
eternal death. 

"Comfort yourself thus in the Lord, who, though 
so many times better than we, our husbands, wives, 
children and all, yet died for you and for us all. 
We are yet his, whether we die or live, whether in 
poverty or wealth, or whatever may befall us. If 
we are his, he is also ours, with all that he has 
and is. Amen. To his grace I commend yon. 
My Katie wishes you the comfort and favor of 
God. 

c ' Monday after Cantate {May <?), 1542. ' ' 

The widow of George Schulze is in few words 
urged to lay to heart two grounds of consolation. * 
Grace and Peace in the Lord. Honorable, vir- 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 690. 



(< 



154 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

tuous Lady Eva, my good Friend. I am deeply 
grieved by your misfortune, that God has taken 
from you your dear husband. I can well believe 
that such a separation must give you pain. It 
would not be well if it did not give you pain, for 
that would be a sign of cold love. 

"But, on the other hand, you have, first, the 
great comfort, that he departed hence in such a 
Christian and blessed way. 

"In the second place, the will of God, our dear- 
est Father, is the very best. He gave his Son for 
us, and how fitting is it that we should now offer 
up our wills to the service and pleasure of his 
will. This we are not only in duty bound to do, 
but we shall also from the doing of it reap great 
and eternal fruits of joy. But may he, our dear 
Lord Jesus Christ, comfort you richly with his 
Spirit. Amen. I commend you herewith to God. 

^Wednesday after Francisci {Oct. 8) y 1544" 

Very numerous are the letters written by Luther 
to men whose wives had been called away by death. 
To his kind and friendly lord and sponsor, Hans 
of Taubenheim, he writes:* 

"Grace and Peace in Christ. Most worthy, 
steadfast, dear Lord and kind Sponsor. I have 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 141. 



Luther and the Mourning, 155 

learned how our dear Lord God has again suffered 
his counsel to be wrought out upon you, in taking 
to himself also your dear wife. This, your sorrow 
and pain, causes me sincere and heartfelt grief, for 
I know that your feelings are very different from 
those of the careless fellows who rejoice in the 
death of their wives; and I remember, too, that I 
know you well as one who is surely no enemy of 
Christ, but who loves his Word and kingdom, and 
who is thoroughly hostile to all treachery and dis- 
honor, as I have learned by experience. In short, 
I consider you as a pious man, and in this I am 
not mistaken ; as you also on your part consider me 
as pious, in which God grant that you may not 
be mistaken, for I am in greater peril than you, 
seeing that I am engaged in great affairs, and should 
therefore (which is the misfortune of my calling) 
sin the more dangerously if God should withdraw 
his hand. Since I have this knowledge of you, 
that you are not an enemy of God, I know also 
that he on his part cannot be your enemy, having 
already granted to you not to be his enemy, and 
having therefore loved you long before you loved 
him, as has been the case also with us all. 

"Bear, then, the stroke of the dear Father's 
gentle rod in such a way that you may find in his 
gracious and paternal will towards you a comfort 



156 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

deeper than the pain; and, in the conflict of your 
grief, let the peace of God, which soars above all 
our reason and senses, be triumphant, however 
the flesh may sob and whimper. I am confident 
that you yourself, taught by the word of God, know 
without my admonitions that the peace of God 
must dwell, not in the five senses nor in the rea- 
son, but far above in the region of faith. Our dear 
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I feel, as God 
knows, and as I trust you do not doubt, very 
kindly toward you and cherish earnest love for 
you. Although I am nothing, and am now of al- 
most no account anywhere, yet Christ must have 
such a poor, frail, patched-up instrument, and 
must tolerate me behind the door in his kingdom. 
May God help me to be worthy of this. Herewith 
I commend you to God. 

"Martinus Luther. 
( ''Friday after Day of the Three Kings, in the year 
1539" 

The Magdeburg chancellor, Laurentius Zoch, is 
thus comforted: * 

"May the Grace of God and Peace in Christ be 
your Comfort, and your Strength. Amen. My 
dear Doctor and special Friend. I am truly most 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 412. Zoch lived at that time in Halle, 
but afterwards moved to Wittenberg. 



Luther and the Mourning. 157 

deeply grieved by the great misfortune and sorrow 
which have fallen upon you, as God has taken 
from you your dear wife, and, as I learn from your 
letter, in such a way as must be peculiarly painful. 

"Well, so it is. God's Son had not only to be 
hated and persecuted by the devil and the wicked 
world, but must at last be called ' smitten of God 
and humiliated,' as Isaiah liii. 4 says, and the 
22d Psalm (verse 6): 'I am a worm and no man.' 
Thus it must go with us Christians also, that it 
must be said of us at last in our affliction, 
that even God himself, from whom we receive all 
comfort, is punishing us; just as, on the other 
hand, the ungodly must mount so high that they 
are regarded as loved and exalted not only by the 
world, but by God himself, in order that they may 
doubly mourn in the end. 

" Thus has God himself now laid his hand upon 
you, as it appears, and the enemies can now think 
and say: 'Thus it goes with Christians. This is 
the reward which your new Gospel gives you.' 
This is not only suffering and dying, but also be- 
ing buried and brought down to hell. 

"But, my dear Doctor, only hold fast. Now is 
the time (for steadfastness). Consider that it went 
thus and far worse with Christ, and that he, never- 
theless, unforsaken of God, whose hand was laid 



158 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

so heavily upon him, came forth with honor. 
Thus will God lead us also with him. 

"It is indeed a great comfort, that your good 
wife died as a Christian and in the possession of 
her faculties, and has without doubt gone to Christ, 
her Lord, whom she here confessed. But it is a 
much greater comfort, that Christ has formed you 
in his own likeness, to suffer as he suffered, i. e., 
to be punished and distressed, not alone by the 
devil, but as though by God, who is and must be 
your comfort. 

"Therefore, although the flesh indeed murmurs 
and cries out, as Christ himself also cried out in 
his weakness (Ps. xxii. 1; Matt, xxvii. 46), yet 
the spirit should be ready and willing, and with, 
unutterable groaning cry: 'Abba, dear Father' 
(Rom. viii. 15), that is to say, ( Heavy is thy 
rod, but I know assuredly that thou art Father 
still.' 

"May our dear Lord and Saviour, who is also 
our precious example in all suffering, comfort you 
and impress his own image upon your heart, that 
you may offer this sacrifice of a mourning spirit, 
and surrender to him your Isaac. Amen. 

"Dr. Martinus Luther. 

"Saturday after All Saints' Day {Nov. j), in the 
year 1532. ' ' 



Luther and the Mourning. 159 

This first epistle he soon followed with another:* 

"Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus, our Comfort 
and our Saviour. — Estimable, learned and dear 
Lord. I beg you, let me feel assured of your pardon 
for not sooner answering your letter. Your good 
friend left too quickly, and I have for several weeks 
been writing and correcting myself to death, in 
order not to neglect my beggars and drivers, the 
printers at Leipzig, so that I was compelled to 
bind all other letters and lay them aside until I 
had worked up to time. 

" I have read and noted with rejoicing, that God 
has, partly by means of my former letter, comforted 
your heart. May the same kind Father carry on 
to the end the work of comforting which he has 
begun; for we Christians must become accustomed 
to that comfort, which is spoken of as ' through 
patience and comfort of the Scriptures' (Rom. 
xv. 4). 

"Therefore, he often withdraws from us the 
comfort of visible things, in order that the comfort 
of the Scriptures may find room and opportunity 
within us, and not remain standing uselessly in the 
bare letter without exercise. Thus he has with- 
drawn from you your excellent comfort and treas- 
ure upon earth, in order that he himself may be 



* 



Briefe. De Wette, 4,419. 



160 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

your comfort in her place, and compensate you 
well, although he has already shown to you and 
others all fidelity, love and comfort. 

"We are told that faith consists in that which 
cannot be seen, and which does not appear (Heb. 
xi. i). The ungodly turn their backs upon the 
wrath of God, which threatens them, but which 
they do not see, and turn their snouts to that which 
they can see and feel, and wallow therein like 
swine. Therefore wrath at last overtakes them 
suddenly and unexpectedly. But we must turn 
our faces to the unseen things of grace and to the 
hidden things of comfort, hoping and waiting upon 
these; and our backs to things that are seen, that 
we may accustom ourselves to leave these and de- 
part from them, as St. Paul says: 'Who look not 
at the things which are seen, but at the things 
which are unseen (2 Cor. iv. 18). ' This gives us 
pain, as we are unaccustomed to it, and the old 
Adam draws us back again to the things that are 
seen, seeking to rest and remain in them. Yet 
this cannot be, for ' the things which are seen are 
temporal,' says St. Paul in 2 Cor. iv. 18, and 
do not endure. Therefore is God called the God 
of patience and comfort (Rom. xv. 5). 

All of this, both such patience and such comfort, 
is the work of God and beyond our power. This is 



Luther and the Mourning. 161 

the school of Christians. They take lessons daily 
in this art and cannot comprehend it, much less 
learn it thoroughly, but they always remain chil- 
dren, spelling the ABC of this art. 

The rest, that is yet lacking, we must commit to 
the forgiveness of sins, and offer up through Christ 
with a paternoster, until that blessed day shall 
come and make us all perfect in all things. Then 
shall we be his companions, like Christ, our ex- 
ample, in all things. 

1 ' To this may the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the God of all comfort, help us all. Amen. Take 

my prattle kindly. 

"Dr. Martin Luther. 

"At Wittenberg, Saturday after Nicolai {December 
/), in the year ijj2. ' ' 

The squire, Ambrosius Berndt of Jiiterbog, who 
had also lost his wife, received from Luther the fol- 
lowing letter of comfort, the beginning and end of 
which have unfortunately not been preserved. * 

"You know, dear Magister, that the mercy of God 
is greater than our misfortune and our adversity. 
You have, indeed, as you think, occasion to mourn, , 
but it is nothing but good sugar, mixed with vine- - 
gar. A very good thing has happened to your be-- 

* Briefe. De Wette, 6, 190. Berndt was stationed at Witten- 
berg, 6, 189. 
II 



1 62 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

loved wife, for she is now with Christ — she has 
made a leap. O, would to God that I had also 
made that leap! I would not greatly long to come 
back hither again. Do not look only at the vine- 
gar, but take some account also of the sugar. 
Look upon the misfortunes of other people, that are 
full of vinegar alone and have no sugar in them. 

"Your suffering is only a bodily suffering, 
namely, the natural love and regard for your fam- 
ily. Your wife died well, and left here nothing 
better than the memory of a kind, sweet, lovely 
companionship and obedience. With this you 
should console yourself, as your heart testifies and 
proves that you were a kind husband to her and 
do not forget her. You are a good logician, and a 
teacher of that art to others; put it into practice now 
and use right definition, division and conclusion. 
Learn to divide and separate the spiritual from the 
carnal. Place your misfortune by the side of that 
of others, and you will see that the death of your 
wife is not in itself mournful or pitiful, but only in 
your inward nature, in which are the natural affec- 
tions which husband and wife, parents and chil- 
dren, have for one another. 

"That was a wise saying of the Emperor Maxi- 
milian, and worthy to be held in remembrance, 
with which he comforted his son, King Philip, 



Luther and the Mourning. 163 

who was very deeply grieved and distressed by the 
death of a faithful, trusty, honorable man who was 
slain in battle. He said to him: 'Dear Philip, 
you must get used to it; you will have to lose yet 
many more who are dear to you.' Thus should 
honest Christian hearts also do; there is no other 
way. Satan takes no vacation. He is a liar and 
murderer, leads people into error and slays them. 
He practices his wiles even upon Christ, but does 
not succeed in them. Christ was given over into 
his hands, but only in order that he might destroy 
the lord and author of death. Satan is a mur- 
derer, but God himself kills no one, for if God 
should slay, who would go to him ? This is not 
the work nor office of God; but when he with- 
draws his hand, the devil gobbles us up. God is 
therefore not efficiently, but privatively, a cause 
of death; that is, God kills no one, but he permits 
it to be done and ordains it. It is indeed God's 
will that we should die, but he has no pleasure in 
our death. 

"Conclusion: God and Satan are most violently 
opposed to one another. Everything that God 
does, he does in order that something may be; but 
Satan labors that it may not be. Satan is there- 
fore an author and source of death, a liar, a mur- 
derer. That is his occupation. " 



164 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Luther often felt himself called upon to write to 
parents whose sons had been sent in blooming 
health to the University at Wittenberg, consoling 
them upon the early death of their dear children 
in the distant city. We select one of these letters,* 
addressed to a man named Zink, in K6nigsberg,t 
which no one can read without the deepest emo- 
tion: 

"First of all, Grace and Peace in Christ our 
Lord. My dear Friend. I suppose the tidings have 
already reached you, that your dear son, Johannes 
Zink, whom you sent to us to pursue his studies 
here, was taken seriously sick, and that, although 
there was certainly no lack of attention, care and 
medicine, yet the disease became too powerful, took 
him away, and bore him to our Lord Jesus Christ 
in Heaven. 

"He was a very dear boy to us all, especially to 
me. I have many an evening had him to sing 
soprano at my house, for he was polite, quiet, 
modest, and especially diligent in his studies. We 
are all greatly pained by his departure, and, if it 
had been at all possible, would most gladly have 
saved and kept him; but he was much dearer still 
to God, and he wished to have him. 

* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 362. 
flbid., 6, 638. 






Luther and the Mourning. 165 

"Now it is perfectly natural that this event should 
grieve and distress your heart and that of your dear 
wife, as the parents, for which I do not blame you, 
since it has distressed all of us and especially my- 
self. Yet, I exhort you, give God much rather 
thanks, that he granted you such a noble and 
pious child, and counted you worthy to expend 
your means and labor to such advantage. 

"But it ought to afford you, as it does us, the 
deepest comfort, that he fell asleep, rather than 
died, so gently and softly, with such admirable 
confession, faith and reason, that we were all filled 
with wonder. There can be no doubt — as little as 
we can doubt the Christian faith itself — that he is 
blessed forever with God, his true Father. Such a 
beautiful Christian end cannot fail of the kingdom 
of heaven. 

"You w 7 ill not forget to consider at the same 
time, how thankful you should be, and what com- 
fort it should be to you, that he did not perish, as 
do many others, in peril and misery. And even 
if he had lived long, you could not, by the outlay 
of all your means, have helped him to rise higher 
than perhaps to some position of honor or service; 
but now he is in the place which he would be ut- 
terly unwilling to exchange, even for a moment, 
for the whole world. 



1 66 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

"Though your grief therefore be great, let your 
comfort be far greater, for you have not lost him, 
but sent him on before you, that he may be pre- 
served in eternal blessedness. Thus speaks St. 
Paul (i Thes. iv. 13): 'Sorrow not over those who 
are departed, or fallen asleep, as do the heathen, 
who have no hope. ' 

U I presume that his preceptor, Magister Veit 
Dietrich, has reported to you some of his beautiful 
words spoken before his death, which will gratify 
and comfort you. But I could not, for love of the 
good boy, refrain from preparing this letter for 
you, that you might know by certain proof how it 
went with him. 

"I commend you to our L,ord and Comforter, 
Christ, and to his grace. 

"D. M. L., 

" By his own hand, although now also weak. 
"Evening of St. George 1 ] s Day (April 23), 1532" 

All who were called to mourn in Wittenberg 
enjoyed Luther's ministrations of comfort, and if 
he was prevented from coming to them himself, a 
letter from his hand was sure to come flying to 
their home, like a dove with the olive-branch of 
peace. The only son of the burgomaster, Dr. 
Benedict Paulus, had a fatal fall while capturing 



Luther and the Mounting. 167 

sparrows, when Luther at once wrote to the 
parents:* 

"Although we are nowhere in the Holy Scrip- 
tures forbidden to grieve and mourn when a pious 
child or friend dies, but have, on the other hand, 
examples of pious patriarchs, forefathers and kings 
who deeply and sorely bewailed and grieved over 
the death of their children, yet there must be 
moderation in such grief and mourning. 

"You do no wrong, therefore, dear Doctor, in 
grieving over the death of your son, if you do not 
carry it too far, but suffer yourself also to be com- 
forted. Let this then be your comfort: first, that 
you bear in mind that God gave to you this son 
and has taken him again ; second, that you follow 
the example of the pious, holy man, Job, who, 
when he had lost all — children, goods and prop- 
erty, yet said at last (ii. 10 and i. 21): 'Have we 
received good from the Lord, why will we not also 
endure evil? The Lord gave, the Lord has taken 
again. As it pleased the Lord, it has come to pass. 
Blessed be the name of the Lord.' 

"Job rightly considered that both good and evil 
come from the Lord; and you should do likewise. 
You will then discover and see that the goods and 
gifts which God has given and preserved to you 

*Briefe. De Wette, 6, 218. 



1 68 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

are much more and greater than the evil that you 
now experience. But you now look only at the 
evil, namely, that your son has died, and forget 
meanwhile the great and glorious goods and gifts 
of God, namely, that he has given you the true 
knowledge of his Word, that Christ regards you 
with favor and kindness, and that you have a good 
conscience, which is alone of itself such a great 
good, that it should easily outweigh and cover over 
every evil misfortune that can befall us. No one 
believes this, unless he has himself experienced 
and felt what a miserable thing it is to have a con- 
science filled with terror, which is really and truly 
death itself and hell. Inasmuch now as you have 
a good conscience, why are you so distressed and 
grieved at the death of your son? 

"But, granted that the misfortune which has now 
fallen upon you is a very great and heavy one, yet 
it is not new, nor has it fallen upon you alone, for 
you have many companions in this your sorrow 
and misfortune. Abraham had to experience 
much greater sorrow of heart for his son, while the 
latter was yet living, than if he had been dead. 
For the Lord commanded him to slay him and of- 
fer him up with his own hands, although it was 
his only and well-beloved son, in whose seed God 
had promised to bless all nations. What do you 



Luther and the Mourning. 169 

think must have been the feelings of his heart as 
he was commanded to behead his son with a naked 
sword? And do you not think that Jacob must 
have had great sorrow of heart, when it was re- 
ported to him that his dear son, Joseph, had been 
torn to pieces by wild beasts? Or what father was 
ever so grieved and distressed as David, when he 
was so cruelly driven out of his kingdom and per- 
secuted by his son Absalom, whom he had brought 
up so tenderly? Yea, truly, when Absalom so 
miserably perished by the spear in that insurrec- 
tion, and died accursed, the father's heart was no 
doubt ready to melt. 

"Therefore, when you properly remember and 
consider these and the like examples of high and 
noble men, you will understand that this your sor- 
row of heart is not in the least to be compared with 
theirs, but is much lighter and more endurable. 

u But you may say : 'It is my only son that has 
died.' Why does this so distress and worry you? 
Just as though God could not give you another, 
seeing that he is almighty. And even though he 
should not think goo.d to give another, but should 
on the other hand take away from you also wife 
and property, yet you should not on that account 
grieve and mourn so deeply, since you still have 
Christ, who regards you with kindness and favor, 



j 70 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

and you have God as your gracious Father, and, be- 
sides all this, many spiritual blessings, which after 
our death shall remain secure forever. 

" 'Yes, but he had a horrible and terrible death.' 
Just as though every death were not horrible, let 
one die as he may, since death is a terrifying and 
frightful thing for our human nature, especially to 
those who have no God. But to us, who are chil- 
dren of God, the terrible image of death becomes 
endurable, for we have a God who thus comforts 
us (Jn. xiv. 19): 'As truly as I live, ye shall live 
also.' 

"But you are distressed by the fear that God may 
have taken your son from you in wrath? Such 
thoughts do not come from God. But this is the 
right view: — It was certainly the good and gracious 
will of God that your son should thus die, however 
your reason may strive and cry out against it and 
imagine that God is angry. Reason is always dis- 
posed to be well pleased when it can have its own 
way; but the works of God are at all times totally 
displeasing to it. It would not therefore be well if 
our will should be done in every case, for we would 
then fall into a state of security. Hence, we are 
satisfied and contented that we have a gracious 
God. Why he should suffer this or that to come 
upon us, is a matter with which we should not con- 
cern ourselves." 



Lather and the Mourning. 171 

Finally, let us accompany Luther to a house of 
mourning, that of the painter, Lucas Crauach, to 
whom we owe the finest and most faithful pic- 
tures of Luther. A message has come from Bo- 
logna, that John, a promising son of this household, 
died on the 9th of October, 1536, after witnessing a 
beautiful and noble Christian confession. The 
poor parents, in addition to the natural grief of 
their loving hearts, were enduring also great tor- 
ment of conscience, as though they themselves 
were the cause of his death, inasmuch as they had 
sent him to Italy. On the first day of December, 
comes Luther, the familiar friend, to the broken- 
hearted painter, and says:* 

"If that were true, I would be as much the cause 
of his death as yon, for I faithfully advised both 
you and him. But we did not do it with any 
thought that he should die. Our conscience bears 
witness that you would much rather know that he 
was living, yea, that you would much rather die 
yourself, and lose all your property. Therefore, 
banish this sting of conscience, for both heart and 
will, as you should not forget, give very different 
testimony as to your feelings towards your son." 
He then turned to the father, who was weeping, 
and said, "Dear Master Lucas, be calm. God 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 325 a. Forst, 3, 150. 



172 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

wishes to break your will. He is apt to lay his 
hand upon us just where it will give us the most 
pain, in order to slay our old Adam; and even 
though our tribulations are not greater than those 
of other people, yet our own, which we feel, give 
us the most pain. Think of poor Adam, and what 
sorrow of heart he had to bear, when his first two 
sons engaged in fatal strife before his eyes. Think 
of poor David, who for two whole years bewailed 
his first-born son, Amnon, slain by his brother 
Absalom: afterwards, when he learned that Ab- 
salom had been slain in his sins and that his body 
was hanging on a tree, then indeed was there a 
lamentation; to know that his son w 7 as eternally 
lost, was cause enough for w T ailing and anguish. 
In the second place, we should find abundant com- 
fort in the piety and obedience of your dear son, for 
the world is now so wicked and boorish that even 
the very noblest youth are led into shame and sin, 
which might have happened even to him. You 
see how rough and rude the world is. Sins are 
openly committed, and boldly denied, so that, even 
after committing public sins and evil deeds, men 
dare shamelessly to say: ' My no is worth as much 
as your yes.' n He then spoke about the rough 
life of the students, and afterwards told of a certain 
Magister at Erfurt, who had been a learned and 



Luther and the Mourning. 173 

pious man, but, after becoming a priest, became 
criminally intimate with the wife of a stone-breaker. 
She was repulsive enough, but he could not keep 
away from her. Finally, he went to the woman one 
morning at six o'clock, after he had held mass, and 
was caught and slain by her husband. "That," 
said he, "was a terrible death. I have five chil- 
dren, and they are dear to my heart. Yet, when 
I think of the evil courses of the future, in which 
they too may become involved, and when I dwell 
upon the thought, I could wish that they were all 
dead, for but little improvement is to be expected 
from the world, as is very evident. In the third 
place, although it is painful to have lost a pious, 
obedient son (for one can forget the bad and dis- 
obedient more easily than the pious and faithful), 
yet his obedience and his Christian death should 
be a joy to you, for the hour of his departure was a 
good and blessed one, chosen for him by God. O 
blessed and thrice blessed is he, who passes safely 
through that hour! It is my daily longing and 
petition, that God may grant me a happy, blessed 
parting-hour, for then shall I know that it has 
been good for me to be here, and that, released 
from all misery and affliction, I shall be happy 
with God. In the fourth place, dear Master Lucas, 
commit this matter to God, the most high Father, 



174 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

who has more interest in your son than you. You 
are only his father according to the flesh, and have 
only for a little while trained and nourished him; 
but God gave to him his body and soul, has ever 
guarded and kept him, and is much, much more a 
father to him than you. He must and can keep, 
care for and nourish him better than you or the 
whole world. In the fifth place, let there be a 
limit to your grief and mourning. Forget it alto- 
gether. Commit it to the will of God, which is 
better than ours. Not evil, but good, has befallen 
your son. Bat and drink, refresh yourself, and do 
not thus worry yourself to death, for you have yet 
work to do for other people. Sadness and distress 
dry up the bones." 



CHAPTER VI. 
HOW LUTHER STRENGTHENED THE TEMPTED. 

LUTHER felt the deepest compassion for all who 
were tempted, for he had himself passed 
through temptations the most severe, galling to 
the flesh, and bringing down the soul to the gates 
of hell, so that he could truthfully say of himself 
that he was scarcely able to gasp or draw his 
breath, and that he went about parched and 
withered like a shadow.* He had himself, as he 
was accustomed to express it, lain in this hos- 
pital, t and had, by the great grace of God, entirely 
recovered. He, if any one, must understand how 
to deal with the tempted, to strengthen and, by the 
help of God, heal them. u I have learned by exper- 
ience," he says, J "how one should act under 
temptation, namely, when any one is afflicted with 
sadness, despair or other heart-sorrow, or has a 
worm gnawing in his conscience, let him first lay 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 315 a. Forst, 3, 121. 

tBriefe. De Wette, 4, 247. Tischreden. Aurif., 314, b. 
Forst, 3, 119. 

X Tischreden. Aurif., 319 a. Forst., 3, 132. 

(175) 



176 Ltither as Spiritual Adviser. 

hold of the comfort of the divine Word, and then 
let him eat and drink and seek the companionship 
and conversation of pious Christian people, and he 
will soon be better." 

His view as to the proper course to be pursued 
by the tempted is very fully expressed in a com- 
mentary upon Isaiah xxxvi. 11, as follows:* 

"This is an excellent passage, which contains a 
doctrine great and precious beyond measure, show- 
ing how we should conduct ourselves in great 
temptations. When Eliakim and Shebna propose 
and undertake to quiet Rabshakeh a little and make 
him milder by humbling themselves before him, 
they fail utterly; for they thereby only make him 
more insolent and bold, and whet the devil's 
tongue. King Hezekiah therefore afterwards ad- 
vises them to make no reply whatever to the blas- 
phemy of the enemy. 

"Thus should we also do in our temptations, 
whether they assail the body or beset the spirit 
and the conscience. Although human reason can 
not be content until it has looked about for hu- 
man help, as did also the servants of King Heze- 
kiah, yet we should accustom ourselves, and put 
ourselves most carefully on guard, not to answer 
the devil when we fall into temptation, nor dispute 

* Werke. Walch, 6, 689 ff. 



Luther and the Tempted. 177 

with him, nor allow ourselves to be drawn into 
much talking. For I can testify from experi- 
ence, that the more you give way to the thoughts 
with which the devil attacks and wearies you, the 
more vigorously and quickly does he set himself 
against you, until at length he drives you to 
despair. 

11 Look, for example, at the trifling temptation 
to impurity, which assails chiefly the young. The 
more an impure disposition and heart thinks about 
love and lust, the more it is inflamed. It occurs 
sometimes that a little spark, when a strong wind 
happens to strike it, becomes a great fire; and 
thus love, let it be trifling and weak as it may, 
when indulged, becomes strong. It is the same 
also with hatred and envy; for if a man is con- 
stantly considering how he will avenge himself, he 
will soon be driven by such thoughts to some reck- 
less deed. 

"Therefore, just as in these bodily temptations 

there is only one solitary way to overcome, namely, 

to turn away from them the senses, the thoughts, 

and the heart; so also in spiritual temptations there 

is no other counsel, and no better help, nor more 

powerful remedy, than that one cast such thoughts 

out of his mind more and more, as best he can, and 

think upon the very opposite. 
12 



178 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

"Although this is far beyond the ability of man, 
yet certain ways and methods may be suggested, 
by which such thoughts, if not entirely overcome 
and utterly banished, may yet be reduced to the 
smallest dimensions. Therefore, whenever any one 
is assailed by temptation of any sort whatever, the 
very best that he can do in the case is either to read 
something in the Holy Scriptures, or to think about 
the Word of God, and take it in hand and to his 
heart. And even though there should be no de- 
sire in the heart to read or to consider the Word of 
God (for the devil takes wonderful delight in hin- 
dering it and awakening aversion to it), still you 
should compel yourself to do this, so that, even if 
your heart and thoughts will not lay hold of it, 
your tongue and ears and eyes may yet be em- 
ployed upon it, and may thus be led to see, hear 
and do other things than what the mind and 
heart think about and purpose. You will cer- 
tainly find that, if the outward senses are occupied 
with the Word, the mind and heart will also easily 
be led to it. Just here is especially seen the power 
and might of the Word of God, namely, that, in 
the most admirable way, it heals and restores again 
to health the mind and heart of man when wounded 
by the arrows of the devil. 

"Therefore Isaiah, in the ninth chapter of his 



Lnther and the Tempted. 179 

prophecy (verse 6), among other names of Christ, 
has mentioned also this, that he is a Counselor of 
the afflicted and the tempted ; for Christ comforts 
people by means of his precious Word, as he also 
declares in the 50th chapter of Isaiah (verse 4): 
' The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I 
should know how to speak a word in season to the 
weary.' St. Paul also teaches likewise, in Romans 
xv. 14, that we should obtain and strengthen 
hope from the comfort of the Holy Scriptures, 
which the devil endeavors to tear out of people's 
hearts in times of temptation. Accordingly, as 
there is no better nor more powerful remedy in 
temptations than to cast the disturbing thoughts 
out of the mind and heart, so there is for this pur- 
pose no other but this one single way, namely, to 
diligently read and hear the Word of God. Thus 
can we best of all quench the fiery darts of the devil. 
But those who will not follow this advice, but cling 
to the grievous and disturbing thoughts, only keep 
on laying more wood and straw upon the fire, 
until they are worn out, and, overcome by the devil, 
who has a thousand arts to practice, give up in de- 
spair. This one line of attack the devil pursues 
to the utmost against us, undertaking to break 
down our faith and confidence by the thought that 
God is angry with us. If you now attempt, in this 



180 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

spiritual conflict, to protect yourself by the help of 
man without the Word of God, you simply enter 
upon the conflict with that mighty spirit, the devil, 
naked and unprotected. You may, therefore, if 
you so please, oppose your power to the might of 
the devil. It will then be very easily seen what 
an utterly unequal conflict it is, if one do not have 
at hand in the beginning the Word of God (which, 
as St. Paul writes in Rom. i. 16, is alone the 
power of God), for any one without the Word of 
God to strive and contend by human power and 
human means against the devil, who has from the 
beginning of the world come off conqueror on so 
many a field, and who is such a practiced and ex- 
perienced warrior. 

"Therefore, pay no attention to the thoughts 
with which the devil seeks to occupy your heart, 
and by all means be on your guard, lest you be 
drawn into dispute with him. He can transform 
himself into an angel of light, and can assume the 
likeness of the glorious person of Christ. Since he 
is also acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, as may 
be seen in the fourth chapter of Matthew, he em- 
ploys at times even the most precious words of 
Christ himself against Christ and against the faith. 
If now, in such temptations, you do not at once 
turn away your heart and mind, and say: 'I know 



Luther and the Tempted. 181 

nothing of any other Christ than he whom the 
Father gave and who died for me and for my sins, 
and I know that he is not angry with me, but is kind 
and gracious to me; for he would not otherwise have 
had the heart to die for me and for my benefit' — 
if one do not hold up this and the like before the 
devil, and cast himself with diligence upon the 
Holy Scriptures to read them faithfully, he will be 
compelled to give up in despair; for the devil can 
very easily quench the weak little spark of our 
faith, if we do not constantly increase, strengthen 
and improve it by the Word of God. 

u Further, that which we now mention is a tri- 
fling, but yet a necessary and useful measure, 
namely, that when any one is sad and melancholy 
he should not be alone, but should make an effort to 
fall into conversation, no matter upon what subject, 
with some good friends; for when one talks with 
another, the heart is drawn from grievous thoughts. 
Lonely places are therefore in times of temptation 
beyond measure injurious and dangerous. Hence 
King Solomon says rightly in Eccl. iv. 10 : 'Woe 
unto him who is alone; for if he fall, he hath 
not another to help him up.' The word of a fel- 
low-christian has wonderful power. Therefore all 
those who are entangled in temptations should 
know and remember that the voice and words of 



1 82 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

their brethren and fellow-christians are to be heard 
and believed as the word and voice of God himself, 
as though God himself were speaking to them. 
And if one could find no such preacher, nor any 
person who could comfort with the Word of God, it 
would yet be better to listen to the conversation of 
other people, than to let the devil speak his blas- 
phemies and shoot his fiery arrows into our hearts. 

' ' I have, in these general precepts, rules and doc- 
trines, proposed and indicated the proper course to 
be pursued in times of temptation. It now re- 
mains for every one to so direct his mind and heart 
in this matter against the devil, that he may dis- 
cover that this my well-meant counsel and opinion 
has not been without benefit to him. L,et no one 
who has committed himself to the Christian faith 
for a moment cherish the thought that he can live 
without temptation; for the saying of St. Paul to 
Timothy (second epistle iii. 12) is true, that 'All 
who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer 
persecution.' 

"Now bodily temptations, such as poverty, ava- 
rice, boastfulness, shame, and the like, can be easily 
overcome. But it requires effort and labor, when 
the devil holds up before us the wrath of God, and 
when, in addition, our own conscience comes to his 
assistance with its testimony and convicts us, being 






Luther and the Tempted. 183 

itself burdened and highly wrought up by the devil, 
who points out many examples of the wrath of God 
presented in the Holy Scriptures and daily occur- 
ring. This, then, is the most furious and sudden 
of all attacks, in which the devil exerts to the full 
extent all his powers and arts, and transforms him- 
self into the likeness of the angry and ungracious 
God. If you now begin to indulge the thoughts 
which the devil suggests and insinuates, you are 
already lost and ruined. But many people do this, 
and we see, in consequence, how they tumble about 
and fall. They would like to escape from the 
grievous and startling thoughts of the wrath of 
God, and hence they hang, stab or drown them- 
selves, or in some other way destroy and kill them- 
selves. When the devil has brought this to pass, 
he has accomplished his designs; for, when he has 
once turned our eyes away from Christ, he at once 
sets himself to work to drive us also to despair. 

14 One should therefore banish from his mind and 
heart the grievous thoughts of sin and of the wrath 
of God, and cherish the very opposite thoughts; as 
we read in the 'Lives of the Ancient Fathers' of a 
certain one, who, being at one time beset with great 
temptations to despair on account of a sin which he 
had committed, finally aroused himself and said: 
'Why, I have committed no sin; I did not do it' 



1 84 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Not that he disowned or denied the sin, but he 
found that he could in no other way escape from 
the grievous thoughts than by casting them out of 
his mind and cherishing the opposite thoughts. 
It was, especially if he spoke these words from 
confidence in the death and merits of Christ, a 
great example of a noble faith, which we would do 
well to follow when in similar peril and tempta- 
tion. We should also learn from it, that we should 
not dispute with the devil; otherwise, the weak and 
timid will be so overwhelmed by grievous thoughts, 
that they may take their own lives; for the spirit 
and heart of man is not able to endure the thought 
of the wrath of God, as the devil represents and 
urges it. Therefore, whatever thoughts the devil 
awakens within us in temptation we should put 
away from us and cast out of our minds, and 
close our ears and eyes against them, so that we 
may see and hear nothing else than the kind, com- 
forting word of the promise of Christ, and of the 
gracious will of the Heavenly Father, who has 
given his own Son for us, as Christ, our dear Lord, 
declares in John iii. 16: 'God so loved the world 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth on him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life.' Everything else, now, which 
the devil may suggest to us beyond this, that God 



Luther and the Tempted. 185 

the Father is reconciled to us, and graciously in- 
clined to us, and merciful for the sake of his dear 
Son, we should cast out of our minds as wandering 
and unprofitable thoughts. 

u Instruction similar to this is given by Gerson, 
the pious, honest Doctor, who alone of all the 
latest theologians has anything upon this subject, 
and who exerted himself faithfully to comfort timid 
consciences; the others all seem to have spent their 
days in rioting and good living, and never devoted 
a single word to this lofty doctrine and the conso- 
lation which so many need. Gerson gives a very 
appropriate illustration, comparing these thoughts 
of the devil, with which he pierces the hearts of 
Christians as with fiery darts, to a barking dog. 
If you throw anything at a barking dog, or strike 
at him, it only makes him worse; and just so is it, 
says Gerson, with evil thoughts in temptations. 
As it is the best way to pay no attention to the 
barking of the dog, but pass quietly by, so it is 
the only wise plan in temptations to despise and 
cast out the thoughts and suggestions of the devil, 
and not suffer one's self to be drawn into further 
disputation or quarrel with him; the evil thoughts 
will then disappear of themselves. The more one 
worries himself and quarrels with them, the more 
they press upon him and harass him. It is im- 



1 86 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

possible by human reason or power to overcome 
and cast out the grievous, poisonous thoughts of 
the devil; but there is nothing so hard for him to 
endure as that he should be despised. They, there- 
fore, do the very best thing, who are able to remain 
firm and strong in such temptations, and despise 
the wicked enemy, the devil. 

"Very similarly, we read also in the ' Lives of the 
Ancient Fathers ' of a certain one, who asked his 
brother to advise him what to do, as grievous 
thoughts often came suddenly into his mind. The 
latter thereupon advised him that, as these 
thoughts came of themselves, so he should let them 
go of themselves again, and only not give himself 
up to them. 'For just,' said he, 'as it is not in 
your power to forbid the birds to fly in the air over 
your head, although you can prevent them from 
making their nests in your hair; so, too, you can- 
not protect yourself from the thoughts of the devil, 
but give all diligence that the thoughts of the 
devil do not take and hold entire possession of 
your heart, mind and spirit, for, if it comes to that, 
you are lost.' This ancient father taught rightly 
and gave good advice. If we do not wish to place 
ourselves in peril, we must follow the same course; 
for the more we give way to these thoughts, the 
less able shall we be to get rid of them, and, as 









Luther and the Tempted. 187 

though locked up in an intricate building or laby- 
rinth, we shall never become free and escape from 
them. 

"We have an example of this in the case before 
us. They attempt to satisfy Rabshakeh by cour- 
tesy and good counsel ; but it is all in vain. He 
only becomes more violent and bold. I desire 
therefore most faithfully to commend to you this 
history, that you may know what counsel and help 
should be given to tempted and timid consciences. 
I have known many such, who, when very great 
and sudden temptations have assailed them, did 
not understand the art of despising and casting out 
these thoughts, and in consequence lost their minds 
and became violently insane ; and some, when 
their minds had become too severely strained by 
these startling thoughts, took their own lives. 

"Now such thoughts are nothing but a web 
spun by the devil, which we do not make or do, 
but suffer ; they are not the works of men, but their 
sufferings. For those who will not learn this, all 
is lost; for they must go to destruction. The devil 
is such a proud spirit, that he is never weary until 
he vanquishes and wins the day. Before those 
who do not despise him, but give attention to him, 
he displays one scene after another, hurling upon 
them one thought after another, until they are 



1 88 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

overpowered and destroyed. Those now who de- 
sire to escape the wiles of the devil, should say to 
him: I will be neither spectator nor fiddler for you; 
for Christ himself has reminded us, Matt, xviii. 3: 
' Except ye be converted and become as little chil- 
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven.' Thus, as long as the servants of King 
Hezekiah dispute with Rabshakeh and notice him, 
he becomes only bolder and more violent. But 
King Hezekiah rebukes them, as the narrative fur- 
ther tells us, and says to them: 'Why do you 
answer him?' " 

In connection with this fundamental passage, in 
which the Reformer expresses most fully and in sys- 
tematic order his views as to the proper treatment 
of the tempted, we present also a few of his utter- 
ances bearing upon separate phases of the subject. 

Luther was accustomed to discriminate between 
the different forms of temptation. He declares ex- 
pressly:* "But there are two kinds of temptation, 
namely, of the spirit and of the body. Satan vexes 
and alarms the conscience with lies, reviling and 
perverting even that which has been rightly and 
well done, and in accordance with the Word of 
God; he vexes the body in other ways." No at- 
tempt is here made accurately to define spiritual 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 310, a. Forst.,3, 105. 



Luther and the Tempted. 189 

temptation, for lie well knows that there are many 
kinds of spiritual temptation, and he here presents 
only the worst form. 

"The temptation of faith," he says again,* 
" is the very greatest and most severe, for it is the 
province of faith to overcome all other temptations. 
If now faith itself be vanquished, we are at the 
mercy of all other temptations, even the very small- 
est and weakest. But, if faith remains undisturbed, 
we can despise the very greatest temptations and 
dangers; for if faith be sound and healthy, all 
other temptations must grow weaker and disappear. 
This temptation of faith was St. Paul's thorn in 
the flesh, a great roasting- fork or pole driven 
through spirit and flesh, through body and soul. 
It was not a temptation of incitement to fleshly 
lust, as the Papists dream because they themselves 
have never felt any other. The great conflicts 
they have never engaged in, and know nothing of 
them from their own experience; hence they speak 
and write of them as the blind speak of color." 
By the temptation of faith is meant that the evil 
conscience drives out of a person his confidence in 
the pardoning grace of God, and leads him to im- 
agine that God is angry and wishes the death of 
the sinner; or that, in other words, the conscience 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 316 b. Forst. 3, 125. 



190 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

places Moses upon the judgment-seat, and casts 
down the Saviour of sinners from the throne of 
grace. u This is the strongest, greatest and sever- 
est temptation of the devil, that he says: 'God is 
an enemy of sinners; you are a sinner, therefore 
God is your enemy.' "* Again and again he 
comes back to the declaration, that this is the 
noose which Satan throws over the head of the 
poor child of man in order to strangle him.f 
" This temptation," he remarks,! " is felt more by 
one person than by another, and in different form. 
To me, Satan casts up my evil deeds and words, 
as, that I held mass and thus blasphemed God, or 
that I did this or that in my youthful days: others, 
again, he vexes by casting up to them the wicked 
life which they have led." 

He who is tempted should comfort himself with 
the reflection, that temptation is the very thing 
which the Christian is called upon to suffer. u L,et 
everyone," says Luther, || "who wishes to be a 
genuine Christian remember that without tempta- 
tion lie cannot learn Christ." At another time he 
says:§ " The God-fearing man is chastened in 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 303 b. Forst., 3, 78. 
flbid., 317 a, 327 b. Forst., 3, 126, 160, 159. 
Jlbid., 303 b. Forst., 3, 78. 
|| Ibid., 303 b. Forst., 3, 79. 
\ Ibid., 313 b. Forst, 3, 116. 



Luther and the Tempted, 191 

order that he may not be condemned with the 
world ; bnt the ungodly, in order that he may either 
learn to know himself or become the more hard- 
ened. The better the Christian, the more tempta- 
tion; the greater the sin, the more fear." 

The tempted man has also the consolation of 
knowing that he is not the only one who is thus 
vexed. "Be of good cheer," he once exclaimed 
to Dr. Jerome Weller, as they were sitting at 
table,* a you are not the only one who is assailed 
by temptation; I am another, and I have much 
greater sins to account for than you and your 
fathers. I would rather that I had been a whore- 
monger and robber than to have sacrificed and 
blasphemed Christ in the mass for fifteen years." 

Further, the temptations of the Christian are 
good for him. "But such temptations," says he 
consolingly, t "are not only necessary, but also 
good and useful; without them, we would go on in 
security, with no fear of God before our eyes and 
never calling upon him for help, for he who is well 
and happy has no need of physician or comforter. 
Thus the devil might easily deceive us. Tempta- 
tion, however, teaches us to live in the fear of God, 
to pray without ceasing, to grow in the grace and 

*Tischredeti. Aurif., 315 a. Forst., 3, 119. 
■flbid., 309 b. Forst., 3, 104. 



192 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

knowledge of Christ, and to understand the power of 
the Word; and, although we still remain weak, yet 
the power of our Lord Christ is mighty in the weak. ' ' 
Hence, temptations are not indications of wrath, 
but just the opposite, i. e., indications of the pater- 
nal love of God. As the excellent pastor, Johann 
Schlaginhaufen of Kothen, who was strongly in- 
clined to melancholy, was upon one occasion dining 
with Luther, the Reformer said:* "It is impossi- 
ble that the heart of man should learn to know God 
aright and hold him in remembrance and think of 
him, without enduring temptation and the dear 
cross." Then, turning to his sorrowful friend, he 
added: "Believe me, if you did not stand so high 
in the favor of God, you would not have to endure 
such trial and temptation." "Let it be granted," 
said he at another time,t "that God appears to 
be angry when we are vexed and tempted; yet, if 
we repent and believe, we shall come to see that 
beneath the wrath of God lie hidden grace and 
goodness, just as his strength and power lie con- 
cealed beneath our weakness. So long as we re- 
main steadfast in hope and wait patiently, we do 
not allow such masks to offend or disturb us, but 
pray diligently." 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 315 a. Forst., 3, 120. 
f Ibid., 318 b. Forst., 3, 131. 



Luther and the Tempted. 193 

He who is assailed by temptation should bury 
himself in the Holy Scriptures. He should dili- 
gently hear and read them, should meditate deeply 
upon them and lay them to heart. But especially 
does Luther direct such to the Gospel, as foretold by 
by the prophets, and presented in fulfilment in the 
New Testament. Not the entire Scriptures, but 
only those portions which set forth the Lord Jesus 
Christ, quicken and lift up. The law can only ac- 
cuse and condemn. "Is anyone," says he,* "in 
temptation, or in the company of those who are 
tempted, let him smite Moses to death, and cover 
him all up with stones. But when the tempted one 
is restored again to health and delivered from the 
temptation, then preach the law to him; for when 
one is distressed we should not add to his anxiety." 

On another occasion, he sets forth this comfort 
of the Gospel as follows :f "It is a falsehood, that 
God is an enemy of sinners, for Christ roundly and 
plainly declares, by commandment of the Father: 
'I am come to save sinners.' But if the devil 
holds up before you Sodom and other examples of 
the divine wrath, hold up before him Christ, who 
became man and for our sakes crept into our poor 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 314 a. Comp. 305 a. Forst., 3, 117 
and 83. 

■Mbid., 303 b. Forst., 3, 79. 
13 



194 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

flesh and blood, yet without sin. Now if God were 
an enemy of sinners, he certainly would not have 
given his only-begotten Son for them. We should 
learn to understand this thoroughly, for it is good 
and useful for us, and not, as 'some imagine, a vain 
and empty thing." 

Luther was accustomed to warn the tempted 
against spending much of their time alone. Thus 
he urged upon Dr. Weller, that he in his "sorrow, 
temptation and distress should seek company and 
by no means be alone, nor creep off by himself 
to torment and torture himself with his own 
thoughts and the suggestions of the devil, for the 
Holy Spirit says (Eccl. iv. 10): 'Woe to him who 
is alone.' When I am dispirited and melancholy, 
I flee from loneliness, go among the people and 
talk with them. Christ himself was tempted of 
the devil in the lonely wilderness, but the wilder- 
ness was not lonely for John the Baptist, as there 
were people living round about."* "This, my 
dear Doctor," he proceeds, \ "is the one chief 
thing; see to it that you do not stay alone when 
you are tempted. Yes, flee from loneliness, as did 
the monk, who said when assailed by temptation in 
his cell: 'I will not stay here; I will leave my cell 

*Tischreden, 317 a. Forst.,3, 127. 
flbid., 317 b. Forst.,3, 127. 



Luther and the Tempted. 195 

and go to my brethren.' " He was fond of quoting 
a striking saying of Cardinal Albrecht of Mentz, 
that the human heart is like a mill-stone. As 
long as grain is fed to the latter, it goes round, 
grinds, crushes, and turns out meal. But when 
the supply of grain fails, the mill-stone goes round 
all the same, but now grinds itself, and becomes 
thinner and smaller. Thus also the human heart 
must have something to do. If it does not have 
the works of its calling to occupy it, the devil 
comes and casts in temptation, despondency and 
sadness. Then the heart wears itself away with 
sadness, until it almost perishes from weakness, 
and many a one worries himself to death, as Sirach 
says (xxx. 25): "Sadness kills many people," 
devouring the bones and marrow, and is of no 
benefit whatever. * 

Instead of giving himself up in loneliness to his 
own thoughts, and thus sinking ever deeper in the 
mire, let the tempted one go out to his field of 
labor, address himself to the works of his calling, 
and do his duty. u As Dr. Martin Luther was 
upon one occasionf leaving the castle-church after 
preaching there, he was met by a common soldier, 
very poorly clad, who complained that he was 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 317 b. Forst, 3, 128. 
f Ibid., 494, b. Forst., 4, 255. 



196 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

sorely tempted by the devil, whom he seemed ac- 
tually to see and hear, and who was constantly 
trying to take him away. As they were thus con- 
versing, Dr. Pommer also approached, and they 
both sought to comfort the poor soldier, urging 
him not to yield to despair, for although he was 
tempted by the devil, yet he did not belong to 
him, and reminding him that the Lord Christ was 
also tempted of the devil and led into the wilder- 
ness, afterwards also to a pinnacle of the temple 
and upon an exceeding high mountain, and that 
nevertheless the Lord Christ had overcome him 
with the Word of God and prayer. Then said Dr. 
Martin Luther further: 'If the devil vexes you 
and threatens to take you away, say to him : I be- 
long to the Lord Christ, in whom I believe, and 
who has promised that he will himself take me 
away and that no one shall snatch his Christians 
out of his hand. Again, the Lord Christ himself 
says (John xvii. 12): "Father, of those whom thou 
hast given me have I lost none !" You ought to 
believe in God far too strongly to be so much 
afraid of the devil and his cunning, for although he 
would indeed gladly take you away, yet he is not 
able to do it. A thief would like very much to 
steal a rich man's money and treasures out of his 
chest, but he cannot do it. Thus God does not 






Luther and the Tempted, 197 

allow the devil to have his own way so far as to 
bring any real injury or sorrow upon you. Only 
listen to God's Word, pray diligently, believe, 
work faithfully, and do not stay alone often, and 
God will surely deliver you from the devil and 
preserve you. ' ' ' 

At another place we are told* of "a young ap- 
prentice in the employ of a locksmith," who "was 
led up and down through all the streets of the city 
by a ghost. He was examined one morning from 
six until nine o'clock by Dr. Martin Luther, in the 
presence of other learned men and trustworthy peo- 
ple, and was asked whether he had learned the 
catechism. But he declared, under the prompting 
of the evil spirit, that he had sinned against God in 
receiving the sacrament in both elements, and re- 
ported that the devil had finally said to him: 'If you 
go into your master's house, I will break your neck.' 
He had therefore not entered it for several days. 
Then said Dr. Martin Luther: l We must not be- 
lieve every one just at once, for many persons often 
imagine such things; and even if he did see the 
ghost, he ought not to have forsaken his calling. 1 
He then questioned him further, and asked him 
what he had said to Satan, saying: ' See that you tell 
the truth now. Fear God, hear his Word with dili- 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 306 a. Forst., 3, 87. 



198 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

gence, go to your master's house and work at your 
calling, and if the devil comes again, say to him: 
I won't listen to you, but to my God who has 
called me to this position and trade. I will follow 
my calling, even though an angel from heaven 
should come and tell me not to do so.' " 

That many persons are assailed by temptations 
because they do not give due attention to the body, 
but treat it improperly, the Reformer knew very 
well, and he therefore urges the tempted to eat and 
drink. He was fond of relating "the history of a 
certain bishop, whose sister, living in a convent, 
was sorely distressed by a spirit of sadness and by 
evil dreams, and temptations, and utterly refused to 
be comforted. She made a visit to her brother and 
told him of her trouble. The brother ordered a 
splendid supper, invited his sister as a guest, and 
urged her to eat and drink heartily, which she did. 
The next morning the bishop asked her how she 
had slept, and whether she had been troubled with 
dreams and temptations during the night. ( No,' 
said she, 'I slept very well and had no temptation.' 
Then said the bishop: 'My dear sister, go home 
again and take good care of your body, eating and 
drinking to spite the devil, and you will find that 
evil dreams and temptations will no longer trouble 
you.' Therefore, said Dr. Martin, we ought to re- 



Luther and the Tempted. 199 

fresh sorrowful persons with food and drink. But 
this means alone may not answer, especially for 
young people." * 

The letters of IvUther reveal to us how deeply he 
was moved to compassion for all those who were 
assailed by temptation, and how he sought in 
brotherly love to strengthen them from his own 
rich experience. Hearing that the Captain of 
Nordhausen, Jonas of Stockhauseu, has grown 
weary of life, the Reformer hastens to his help.f 

u Grace and Peace in Christ. Your Worship, 
my dear and firm Friend. It is reported to me by 
good friends that the wicked enemy is sorely as- 
sailing you with disgust of life and desire for death. 
O, my dear Friend, now it is high time that you 
should give up trusting your own thoughts and 
following them, and listen to other people, who 
have escaped from the power of this temptation. 
Press your ear close to our lips, and let our word go 
straight down into your heart, and God will com- 
fort and strengthen you through our word. 

"In the first place, you know that we ought to 
and must be obedient to God, and guard ourselves 
diligently against disobedience to his will. Since 
now you cannot but understand, and be very sure, 

*Tischredeti. Aurif., 319 a. Forst, 3, 133. 
t Briefe. De Wette, 4, 415. 



200 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

that God gives you life and does not yet wish to 
see you die, your thoughts should certainly yield 
to this divine will, and you should be willingly 
obedient to God and have no doubt that such 
thoughts, being contrary to the will of God, are 
most certainly hurled and driven by force into 
your heart by the devil. You must therefore set 
yourself firmly against them, and, in turn, by force 
bear up against them or cast them out. 

u L,ife was very bitter for our Lord Christ also, 
but he would not die without his Father's will, 
fled from death and preserved his life as long as he 
could, saying: 'Mine hour is not yet come.' So 
also Elijah and Jonah, and other prophets, in great 
misery and out of patience with life, called and 
cried for death, cursing their very birth, their day 
and their life; yet they had to live and bear the 
burden with all their power or weakness until 
their appointed hour had come. 

u To such words and examples, as the words and 
admonitions of the Holy Spirit, you must give 
honest heed, rejecting and casting out the thoughts 
that lead you to oppose them. If you find it a 
hard and bitter task to do this, just think of your- 
self as a prisoner bound in chains, from which you 
must struggle and worry to free yourself, until the 
sweat rolls from your body. The devil's arrows, 



Luther and the Tempted. 201 

when they are so deeply imbedded, cannot be 
drawn out by laughter nor without labor, but must 
be torn out by force. 

"Therefore you must pluck up courage and con- 
fidence against yourself, and, angry with yourself, 
exclaim: ' No, my friend, if you were twice as un- 
willing to live, yet you must and shall live, for 
my God desires, and I desire, to have it so. Away 
with you, thoughts of the devil ! Get you to the 
abyss of hell with dying and death. Here there is 
nothing for you to do,' etc. Set your teeth to- 
gether against these thoughts, and, relying on 
God's will, lift up your head firmly, and make 
yourself more stiff-necked and stubborn than the 
rudest peasant, yes, harder than any iron anvil. 

" If you lay hold of yourself in this way and 
fight against yourself, God will assuredly help you. 
But if you will not thus shut yourself up and pro- 
tect yourself, but allow your thoughts to vex you 
as they please in every moment of leisure, you will 
soon lose the day. 

u But the very best advice of all is, not to be all 
the time trying to contend with these thoughts, 
but to despise them if you can. Act as if you did 
not notice them, but were always thinking about 
something else, and say to them: 'All right, Devil, 
but let me alone now; I can't attend to your 



202 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

thoughts just now, for I must take a ride or a drive, 

or eat or drink, or do this or that' ; or, ' I must be 

cheerful now, come again to-morrow,' etc.; or, do 

anything else that you can think of, play or make 

sport if you please, only so that you thoroughly 

and truly despise such thoughts, and drive them 

away from you, though it be with rude, coarse 

words, such as: ' Dear Devil, can't you come a 

little closer to me; I am pining to have you near !' 

For examples of this, get some one to read to you 

about the Skin-flint and about the Goose-piper, 

etc., in Gerson's 'Upon Blasphemous Thoughts.' 

This is the best counsel that can be given. Our 

prayers and those of all pious Christians will help 

you to follow it. 

11 1 herewith commend you to our dear L,ord, the 

only Saviour and true Conqueror, Jesus Christ. 

May he gain his victory and celebrate his triumph 

over the devil in your heart, and give us all cause 

for rejoicing in the help granted you and the 

wonders wrought in you; which we confidently 

hope and pray, as he has bidden and commanded 

us. Amen. 

"Dr. Martinus Luther. 

u At Wittenberg. Wednesday after Katharines 

{Nov. 27, 1532)." 

The faithful friend and spiritual adviser does not 



Luther and the Tempted. 203 

fail to give special advice to the wife of the 
tempted man. Under the same date, he writes to 
her:* 

"Grace and Peace in Christ. Honorable, vir- 
tuous Lady. I have hastily written a short letter 
of encouragement to your dear husband. Now the 
devil is an enemy to both of you, because you love 
his enemy Christ. For that you must be made to 
suffer, as Christ himself says (John xv. 19): 'Be- 
cause I have chosen yon, therefore the world and 
the prince of the world hate you, but be of good 
cheer.' The suffering of his saints is precious in 
the sight of God. 

"I can write but little now, as I am greatly hur- 
ried. But let me urge you not to leave your hus- 
band alone for a single moment, nor to leave any- 
thing within his reach with which he might harm 
himself. Solitude is a real poison for him, and 
the devil therefore tries to keep him alone. If 
some one would read a great deal to him out of 
histories, talk and read about recent happenings 
and strange things, it would do no harm, even if 
they were sometimes foolish trifles and false tales of 
Turks, Tartars and the like, in order to arouse him, 
if possible, to laugh and joke; then let the advan- 
tage be quickly followed up with comforting texts of 
*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 417. 



204 Luther as Spiritual Adviser, 

Scripture. But whatever you do, do uot let him be 
alone, nor in any place where all is quiet about him, 
so that he can give himself up to his own thoughts. 
No matter if he gets angry with you for disturbing 
him. Act as though you were offended, and scold 
him; but be all the more careful to carry out your 
plan. I trust you will accept these lines written 
in haste. Christ, who has brought this heart- 
sorrow upon you, will help you, as he has lately 
helped you in your own trouble. But only stand 
firm. You are the apple of his eye; who touches 
it, touches him. Amen." 

In the days of Luther, many minds were occu- 
pied and disturbed by the question of the divine 
fore-ordination or predestination. We have already 
seen, in the example of Albrecht of Mansfeld, how 
this question in many instances led to reckless 
levity; but in very many cases it produced great 
anxiety and melancholy. The pious Barbara Liss- 
kirchen (often shortened to Lischner) was such a 
tormented soul. I^uther seeks to strengthen her 
by the complete discussion of the subject in the 
following letter:* 

" Grace and Peace in Christ. Virtuous* and 
dear Lady. Your dear brother, Jerome Weller, 
has informed me that you are deeply distressed by 
* Briefe. De Wette, 4, 247. 



Luther and the Tempted. 205 

temptation upon the subject of eternal predestina- 
tion. I am truly sorry to hear this. Amen. May 
Christ, our Lord, deliver you from this temptation. 
Amen. 

"I know all about this sickness; I was myself 
brought down to the verge of eternal death in this 
hospital. Now, besides my prayer for you, I 
would gladly counsel and comfort you, but it is a 
hard thing to discuss such matters in writing ; yet 
I will try to do it as well as I can, if God will 
grant me the needed grace. I will tell you how 
God helped me out of the trouble, and by what 
means I even yet daily guard myself against it. 

"In the first place, you must firmly fix it in 
your heart, that such thoughts are most certainly 
the suggestions and fiery darts of the miserable 
devil. Thus the Scriptures declare, as is said in 
Prov. xxv. 27: 'He who searches out the lofty 
affairs of Majesty shall be crushed.' Now such 
thoughts are nothing but a searching out of the 
divine Majesty, an attempt to search out God's 
lofty predestination. Jesus, the son of Sirach, says 
(iii. 22): 'Thou shalt not search out that which is 
too high for thee, but concern thyself with that 
which God has commanded thee; for it will profit 
thee nothing to be gaping after that which is not 
commanded thee.' And David also sadly ac- 



2o6 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

knowledges, Ps. cxxxi. i, that he has fared badly 
when he has attempted to search out high things. 

"Therefore it is certain that this comes not from 
God, but from the devil. He vexes the heart with 
it, in order that men may become alienated from 
God and give way to despair, which God has yet 
strictly forbidden in the first commandment, in 
which he calls upon us to love, and praise Him in 
whom we live. 

"In the second place, when such thoughts come 
to you, you should learn to say: ' My dear, in which 
commandment is it written that I must think or 
bother myself about that?' If no commandment 
can be found, then learn to say: 'Ah! away with you, 
you miserable Devil, you want to compel me to care 
for myself, when God everywhere says that I shall 
let him care for me, declaring: U I am thy God," 
that is, U I care for you ; depend upon me, observe 
what I command you, and let me have the care, as 
St. Peter teaches (I. v. 7) : ' Cast all your care upon 
him, for he careth for you,' and David (Ps. lv. 22): 
' Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sus- 
tain thee.' " 

" In the third place, although the thoughts do not 
now give up troubling you (for the devil is always 
slow to give up), yet you, on your part, must also 
refuse to give up, and still turn your heart away 



Luther and the Tempted. 207 

from them, and say: l Do you not hear, Devil? I 
will have nothing to do with such thoughts. God, 
too, has forbidden them. Away with you! I 
must now think of his commandments and in the 
meanwhile let him take care of me. If you are so 
wise in such matters, go up to Heaven and dispute 
with God himself; he can answer you fully enough. ' 
Thus you must always put him off and turn your 
heart to God's commandments. 

u In the fourth place, the very highest among all 
the commandments of God is this, that we ever 
hold up before us his dear Son, our Lord Jesus 
Christ. He must daily be to our hearts the perfect 
mirror, in which we see how God loves us, and how 
he, as a faithful God, has so grandly cared for us 
as to give his own dear Son for us. 

"Here, here, I say, and nowhere else, do we learn 
the right way to deal with this question of predes- 
tination. This will prove that you believe on 
Christ. If you believe, then you are called; if you 
are called, then you are most certainly also predes- 
tinated. Let not this mirror and throne of grace 
be torn away from before your eyes, but when such 
thoughts come and sting like fiery serpents, do not 
look at the thoughts and serpents, but turn your 
eyes at once away and look upon the brazen ser- 
pent, that is, Christ given for us, and, if it please 



208 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

God, you will soon feel better. But it takes, as I 
have said, a struggle, and a constant driving away of 
the evil thoughts. If they drop into your mind, let 
them drop out again, just as any one would quickly 
spit out dung, if it should fall into his mouth. 

' ' Thus God has helped me. It is his earnest com- 
mandment that we keep before us the image of his 
Son, who has abundantly proved himself to be our 
God, as the first commandment teaches, and who 
promises that he will help and care for us. There- 
fore he will not suffer us to help or care for ourselves. 
That would be to deny God, and at the same time, 
the first commandment and Christ as well. 

"The miserable devil, who is an enemy of God 
and Christ, tries by such thoughts, in direct op- 
position to the first commandment, to tear us away 
from Christ and God and lead us to think about 
ourselves and our own cares, so that we may assume 
the office of God, which is to care for us and be our 
God; just as he in Paradise sought to make Adam 
a god, so that Adam might be his own god, and 
care for himself, and rob God of this divine work 
of caring for him, — in which attempt Adam so 
horribly fell. 

"This much I have wanted to say to you for this 
time, and I have written to your brother, Jerome 
Weller, that he too should diligently warn and ex- 






Luther cuid the Tempted. 209 

hort you to let such thoughts alone and to send the 
devil back to his home to sound all their depths. 
He knows very well how it went with him when 
he thus meddled with things too high for him, 
that he fell from Heaven into the abyss of hell. 

"The conclusion of the whole matter is, that 
what is not commanded should not be allowed to 
lead us astray nor disturb us. It comes from the 
instigation of the devil and not from God. May 
our dear Lord Jesus Christ show you his hands 
and feet, and speak kindly greeting to your heart, 
that you may look upon and listen to him alone, 
until you grow happy in him. Amen. 

"Dr. Martinus Luther. 

" The last day of April, 1531." 

Weller, the brother of this sorely-tempted 
woman, was also strongly disposed to melancholy. 
What Luther had experienced in the monastery, 
he experienced in Luther's house. He tortured 
himself, not with definite, grievous sins, but with 
a false and exaggerated sense of sin. The Re- 
former, who had already twice given him earnest 
warning,* addressed to him yet further a long and 
noble epistle in Latin, as follows :f 

*Briefe. De Wette, 4, 39 (June 19, 1530), and 130 (Aug. 10, 
1530). 
flbid., 4, 186. 

H 



2io Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

1 ' Grace and Peace in Christ. My dearest Jerome. 
You should believe firmly that this your tempta- 
tion comes from the devil, and that he vexes you so 
because you believe on Christ; for you see in what se- 
curity and happiness he permits the fiercest enemies 
of the Gospel, such as Eck, Zwingli and others, to 
live. We must have the devil for our adversary and 
enemy, all of us who are Christians, as Peter says 
(I. v. 8): 'Your adversary, the devil, goeth about.' 
My dearest Jerome, you should rejoice over this 
temptation of the devil, for it is a sure sign that 
God looks upon you with favor and mercy. You 
say that the temptation is heavier than you can 
bear, and you fear that it may so break you down 
and crush you that you may fall into despair and 
blasphemy. I understand this wile of the devil. 
If he is unable to cast his victim to the ground at 
the first assault of temptation, he attempts by per- 
sisting to so weary and weaken him that he may 
fall and acknowledge himself beaten. Therefore, 
whenever this temptation meets you, be careful not 
to be drawn into any disputation with the devil, 
nor to give way to this fatal thought, which would 
be nothing less than believing and surrendering to 
him. You must, then, make an earnest effort to 
boldly despise these thoughts suggested by the 
devil. The best and easiest way to overcome the 



Ltither and the Tempted. 211 

devil in temptations and warfare of this kind is just 
to despise hiin. Try it. Vanquish the adversary 
with ridicule, and then look about for some one 
with whom you can talk. By all means avoid 
loneliness; for it is just when you are alone that he 
sets his snares and catches you. This devil is to be 
overcome by scorn and contempt, not by resisting 
and disputing with him. Talk a little nonsense, 
and make merry with my wife and the others, to 
get the better of those thoughts of the devil, and 
be of good cheer, my Jerome. This temptation is 
more necessary for you than food and drink. 

1 i I will tell you what was my experience when I 
was just about your age. At first, after I had en- 
tered the monastery, I went about sad and gloomy, 
and could not free myself from this spirit of sad- 
ness. I therefore sought counsel of Dr. Staupitz, 
whom I hold ever in grateful remembrance, con- 
fessed to him, and revealed to him what terrible 
and frightful thoughts I had. He replied: 'You 
do not know, Martinus, how useful and necessary 
this temptation is for you. God does not exercise 
you thus for nothing. You w T ill see that he wants 
your service to accomplish some great things. 
And so it has turned out; for I can say without 
boasting that I have become a great doctor, which, 
at the time when I was enduring this temptation, 



212 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

I would never have thought possible. Just so it 
will no doubt be also with you. You will become 
a great man. Only see to it that you keep up good 
courage meanwhile, and bear yourself bravely, 
fully convinced that such words, especially when 
they come from such learned and great men, are 
like oracles and prophecies. I recollect that a man 
whom I was seeking to comfort upon the loss of 
his son once said to me: 'Mark my word, Mar- 
tinus, you will yet become a great man.' I very 
often think of this. Such utterances have, as I 
have said, something prophetic and oracular about 
them. 

"Take courage, therefore, and cast these decep- 
tive thoughts utterly away from you. As often as 
the devil tempts you with such thoughts, begin to 
talk with some one, crack jokes, make sport, or do 
something else that will cheer you up a little. 
One has to joke and play a little now and tfien, 
* * * just to spite the devil and put him to scorn, 
so as not to leave him any room to make a con- 
science for us out of things that are altogether 
trifling; otherwise, if we are too much concerned 
for fear we may commit sin, we shall be overcome. 
We should always do just the opposite of that 
which Satan commands us. What a very different 
thing it is to engage in sportive conversation, or 



Ltither and the Tempted. 213 

to eat and drink oftener than necessary, if I do it 
only to scorn and despise the devil, who is attempt- 
ing to torment me and make sport of me ! O, that 
I might perpetrate some sort of a special sin, just 
to show my scorn for the devil, so that he might 
see that I recognize no sin and am conscious of 
none ! We must put the whole Decalogue out of 
sight and out of mind, it seems to me, when the 
devil thus assaults and vexes us. When the devil 
casts up to us our sin, and declares us worthy of 
death and hell, we must say: ' I confess that I am 
worthy of death and hell. What more have you to 
say?' 'Then you will be lost forever!' 'Not in 
the least: for I know One who suffered for me and 
made satisfaction for my sins, and his name is 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So long as he shall 
live, I shall live also.' 

1 ' Thy Martin Luther. * 
"Nov. 6, 1530." 

A certain woman, who had suffered an evil word 
to fall from her lips, was filled in consequence 
with most distressing thoughts. Luther thus 
strengthens her:f 

"Grace and Peace in the Lord. My dear Lady 

* A few clauses in the above letter are omitted, as liable to 
misconstruction in our day. 

t Briefe. De Wette, 5, 529. Probably an Eschat, at Herz- 
berg. Ibid., 6, 494. 



214 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Margarita. Your brother John informs me, that 
the evil spirit is burdening your heart, because 
such an evil word fell from your lips. I wish 
that the devil might take all those who have * * 
* * Therefore he vexes you and makes you be- 
lieve that you shall be his forever. 

"Aye, my dear Margarita, since you feel and 
confess, that it was the evil spirit who led you to 
utter that evil word, and that it was also his evil 
suggestion, you ought to remember that everything 
which he suggests is false ; for he is a liar and the 
father of lies (John viii. 44). It is certainly not 
Christ who would make you believe that you are 
to belong to the devil, since he died in order that 
all who are under the devil's power might be set 
free from him. Therefore treat the devil thus: 
Spit on him, and say: 'Have I sinned? Well, 
then, I have sinned, and I am sorry; but I will not 
on that account despair, for Christ has borne and 
taken away all my sin, yes, and the sin of the 
whole world, if it will only confess its sin, reform 
and believe on Christ, who has commanded, L,uke 
xxiv. 47, "that repentance and forgiveness of 
sins be preached in his name among all nations." 
What should I do if I had committed murder or 
adultery, or even crucified Christ? Why, even 
then, I should be forgiven, as he prayed on the 



Luther and the Tempted. 215 

cross: "Father, forgive them" (Luke xxiii. 34). 
This I am in duty bound to believe. I have been 
acquitted. Then away with you, devil!' 

"You ought therefore, dear Margarita, not to 
believe your own thoughts nor those of the devil, 
but you should believe us preachers, whom God has 
commanded to instruct souls, comfort them, and 
declare them free, as he says (Matt. xvi. 19, John 
xx. 23): 'Whatsoever ye loose, shall be loosed.' 
This you ought to believe, and have no doubt at all 
about it. Now we preachers, in Christ's name 
and by his command, declare you loosed and free, 
not only from this one sin, but from all sins which 
you have inherited from Adam, which are so 
great and so many that God in mercy will not 
allow us in this life to see or rightly feel them all, 
for we could not endure it; much less will he im- 
pute them to us who believe on him. 

"Be contented, therefore, and of good cheer; 
your sins are forgiven you. Depend boldly upon 
this; turn not to your own thoughts, but listen 
only to that which your pastors and preachers re- 
peat to you out of God's Word. Do not despise 
their word and comfort; for it is Christ himself who 
speaks to you through them, as he says, Luke 
x. 16: 'He that heareth you, heareth me.' Be- 
lieve this, and the devil will depart and. cease 



216 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

troubling you. But if you are still weak in faith, 
say to yourself : ' I wish that I could believe more 
firmly, for I know very well that this is true and 
that it ought to be believed. But even though I 
cannot believe it as I should, yet I know that it is 
the pure truth.' That is believing to righteous- 
ness and salvation, as Christ says (Matt. v. 6): 
' Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after 
righteousness. ' 

"May Christ, the dear Lord, who was delivered 
for our offences and raised again for our justifica- 
tion (Rom. iv. 25), comfort and strengthen your 
heart in true faith. So far as sins are concerned, 
you need nothing. 

( ' Dr. Martinus Luther. 

" Thursday after Epiphany {Jany. //), 75/^." 

The following epistle was written to strengthen 
in a time of temptation his very dear friend, 
George Spalatin, who reproached himself most bit- 
terly for his decision in a case of marriage:* 

il Grace and Peace from the Lord, and Comfort of 
the Holy Ghost. Amen. I have heartfelt sympathy 
for you, my dearest Spalatin, and I pray the Lord to 
make you strong and cheerful. When I inquired 
from what sickness you are suffering, I received the 

*Briefe. De Wette, 5, 679. 



Luther and the Tempted. 217 

reply, that some think you are oppressed with a 
spirit of melancholy on account of that case of a 
pastor who married the step-mother of his deceased 
wife. If that is the trouble, I beseech you by the 
Lord Christ, as earnestly as I can, not to depend 
upon yourself and your own thoughts, but to hear 
the brother in Christ who now speaks to you. 
Otherwise, the sorrow which, as Paul says, 'work- 
eth death' (2 Cor. vii. 10) will kill you, as I have 
often learned in my own experience and have also 
seen in the case of Magister Philip (Melanchthon) 
at Weimar in 1540, whom sorrow over the case of 
the Landgrave had already killed, but whom Christ 
raised up again from the dead in answer to my 
prayer. 

"Granted now, that you are guilty, and that you 
have sinned in this case; or that you have done a 
wrong greater and more grievous than that of 
Manasseh, although the offences which he intro- 
duced could not be remedied during all the time 
following until the destruction of Jerusalem, where- 
as your offence maybe easily remedied, and is only 
temporal, — granted, I say, that you are guilty: 
shall sorrow on account of this kill you, and will 
you, by killing yourself, sin yet far more? It is 
enough to have sinned; let the sin now vanish, 
and let sadness, which is a much greater sinner, 



218 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

depart. 'I desire not,' says he (Ezek. xxxiii. n), 
'the death of the sinner, but rather that he may 
turn from his wickedness and live.' Shall then 
for you alone the hand of the Lord be too short? 
Will he in your case have no compassion nor 
mercy ? Will you alone, by means of your sin, rob 
us of our high-priest, who has compassion upon our 
weakness? Do you think, then, that it is some- 
thing wonderful and new, that one who lives in the 
flesh and is threatened on every hand with so many 
fiery darts of the devil should for once be wounded, 
or even thrown to the earth ? You seem to me to 
be without experience in the conflict with sin, con- 
science and the law. Or, has Satan snatched away 
from before your eyes and out of your memory all 
those passages of Scripture in which you have been 
instructed concerning the office and work of Christ; 
yes, and all the splendid sermons by which, with 
such great confidence and exultation of spirit, you 
have taught, admonished and comforted the church? 
Or, have you been hitherto such a tender sinner, 
as to have been troubled only about trifling sins? 
But, I beseech you, associate yourself with us, the 
real, great and hard sinners, in order that you may 
not for us diminish and belittle Christ, who is a 
Saviour, not of cultivated and slight sinners, but 
of real sinners, the great as well as the small, yea 



Luther and the Tempted. 219 

verily, of all sinners. Thus my Staupitz once com- 
forted me in my sadness. Said he, ' You want to 
be an imaginary sinner, and to regard Christ as an 
imaginary Saviour. You must accustom yourself 
to think that Christ is a real Saviour, and that you 
are a real sinner. God does nothing for fun nor 
for shoWj and he is not joking when he sends his 
Son and delivers him up for us !' 

"If Satan has torn all this and the like out of 
your memory, so that you cannot of yourself recall 
it, then just give attention, and hear what I, your 
brother, have to say, as, standing beyond the reach 
of your sorrow and unaffected by it, I call upon 
you, my weak brother, pursued and terrified by 
Satan, to lean upon me and lift yourself up upon 
me, until you also, standing erect again, can scorn 
the devil and sing: ( I have been smitten and shat- 
tered, so that I fell, but the Lord helpeth me' 
(Ps. cxviii. 13). Imagine that I am St. Peter, 
holding out his hand to you, and saying: * In the 
name of Jesus rise up and walk' (Acts iii. 6). 

"Hear then, my Spalatin, and believe what 
Christ says to you through me. I know that I am 
not mistaken, nor do I speak by instigation of the 
devil. Christ speaks through me, and commands 
you to believe your brother who with you believes 
upon him. He himself declares you free from this 



220 Litther as Spiritual Adviser. 

sin and from all sins. We have therefore part in 
your sins, and bear them with you. See to it that 
you have part with us in the comfort, certain and 
true, which God himself has commanded us to give 
to you and has commanded you to receive, since, as 
we do not wish you to be tormented with sorrow, 
much less does he desire it. Do not, I pray you, 
reject him who commands and comforts, and who 
hates and condemns your sadness, which is an in- 
fliction of the devil. Do not permit the devil to 
represent Christ to yon as other than he really is. 
Your sadness is the devil's work, which Christ will 
banish, if you will let him. You have been bruised 
enough ; you have suffered enough ; you have made 
atonement enough, yes, far more than enough. 

"Remember, my Spalatin, how faithful is the 
heart of him who ventures thus to speak to you. 
Believe me, you will thank me best, if you will ac- 
knowledge that this my word of comfort is the for- 
giveness, the absolution, the re-awakening of the 
Lord himself. If you will acknowledge this, you 
will find— some day at least— that you have 
brought to the Lord the most acceptable offering, 
as is written (Ps. cxlvii. n): 'The Lord hath pleas- 
ure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his 
mercy.' Away, then, with the sorrow of the devil, 
who in thee smites us so hard, and attempts to 



Luther and the Tempted. 221 

rob us of our joy, and vanquish us all, if possible, 
at one stroke. But Christ rebukes and will rebuke 
him. May he also strengthen and preserve you by 
his Spirit. Amen. Comfort your wife also with 
these and with better words. I cannot write a 
second letter now, as time fails me. 

"Thy Martin Luther. 
" Zeitz, August 21, 1544." 



I 



CHAPTER VII. 
HOW LUTHER DEALT WITH THE DYING. 

N his comments upon Isa. xxxviii. 10, Luther ex- 
presses his views briefly and concisely as to the 
proper method of preparing for a happy death, in 
the following words:* 

"Thus the monks have written much about pre- 
paration for death, but it all amounted to this, that 
one should forsake the world, i. e., go into a desert 
or monastery, and there give himself to I know not 
what manner of meditations. But that is all sheer 
nonsense. The true preparation for death is the 
exercise of faith, that one may know that death, 
sin, hell aud Satan are overcome and totally van- 
quished through Christ, the Crucified; or, in other 
words, that we regard death, not as it is in and of 
itself, nor as it appears to us, but as it is in Christ. 
This looking upon the brazen serpent will preserve 
us; and there can be no other hope whatsoever, 
nor any other way to be saved, but to look upon 
Christ, the Conqueror, in whom death is trodden to 
the earth, sin overcome, and Satan trampled under 

*Werke. Walch, 6, 736. 
(222) 



Luther and the Dying. 223 

foot. Upon his Cross hang the trophies of our 
conquered enemies and tyrants. Thus the heart 
can in security face death, and feel no terror at 
sight of the grim spectre." 

To regard death otherwise, out of Christ, and to 
struggle with it, is like swimming in the midst of 
the sea. Climb up rather into the ship, and cling 
to the mast, upon which the trophies have been 
hung. Look neither upon yourself nor upon your 
own merits, or you will be drowned. But go away 
from yourself, and draw near to Christ, who is the 
Lamb of God, the sacrifice for our sins, who took 
all our sins upon himself and overcame them in his 
own body, in which the devil and death are cruci- 
fied. This is the only way to despise death. Al- 
though some seek to comfort the dying with the 
thought, that death will bring all the troubles and 
dangers of this life to an end, the consolation which 
they thus offer is weak and cannot support the 
heart in the struggle. For the dying will suspect 
that there may be yet greater evils to come after 
death. 

Men must be directed to the sacrifice and the 
merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Deliverer, and 
Luther rejoices that in the Roman Catholic church 
this had not been altogether neglected in the last 
hour, in the final death-struggle. In his brief ex- 



224 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

plauation of the Epistle to the Galatians, he 
observes under the second verse of the fifth 
chapter:* "I am very well pleased with the 
custom of proclaiming before the dying and im- 
pressing upon them only Christ, the Crucified, and 
exhorting them to faith and hope. Here alone, 
however much the soul-destroying Sophists may 
have deluded us through our whole life-time, free- 
will disappears, good works disappear, the right- 
eousness of the law disappears, and there remain 
only faith and appeal to the pure mercy of God, so 
that I have often thought that there are more and 
better Christians in death than in life. The freer 
the confidence is from good works, and the more en- 
tirely it rests upon Christ alone, the better is the 
Christian; and to this faith all the good works of 
the whole life are to be attributed. But now we 
are by so many fogs, clouds and whirlwinds of hu- 
man traditions and ordinances, as those of the 
ignorant interpreters of Scripture and preachers, 
driven in upon our own merits; we of ourselves 
render satisfaction enough for our own sins; we 
do not direct our efforts to the laying aside of the 
frailties of the flesh and bringing to nought the 
body of sin, but, as though we were already pure 
and holy, we heap up together a mass of good 
*Op. ex. ad Gal. III. 368. Walch., 9, 265. 



Luther and the Dying. 225 

works, just as men gather wheat into the barn, and 
by these we are making God our debtor, and will 
sit on I know not what lofty thrones in Heaven! 
Blind, blind, blind! Christ is of no account to all 
these people. They are making themselves right- 
eous in another way." 

How Luther himself prepared the dying for a 
blessed departure from this mortal life, may be 
seen from two letters. His faithful, thankful 
heart was moved with pity when he heard that the 
pilgrimage of his dear father was drawing to a 
close. He could not hasten to Mansfeld, to bring 
counsel and help to his dying parent, but was com- 
pelled to content himself with the writing of a 
letter. It reads as follows:* 

"To my dear Father, Hans Luther, Citizen of 
Mansfeld Valley. Grace and Peace in Christ 
Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 

u Dear Father: My brother Jacob has written to 
me that you are thought to be dangerously sick. 
Since the air is now unhealthy and other dangers 
abound, as well as on account of your increasing 
years, I feel much concern for you. God has given 
and hitherto preserved to you a sound and vigorous 
body, but yet your age causes me anxiety in these 
times, although indeed none of us is, or can, be, 

* Briefe. De Wette, 3, 550. 
15 



226 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

under any circumstances sure of life for a single 
hour. I would most gladly therefore come myself 
to see you in person, but my good friends here 
have counseled against it and persuaded me not 
to undertake the journey, and I cannot but think 
myself that I ought not to tempt God by venturing 
into danger, for you know what kindly feelings 
the lords and peasants have for me. 

"But it would give me great delight, if it were 
possible for you and mother to have some one drive 
you here to us, which my Katie also with tears de- 
sires, as do we all. I am sure we would take the 
best care of you. I have therefore arranged for 
Cyriacus* to go to you and see whether in your 
weakness this will be possible. For, whether it 
should be helpful to you for this life or for that 
which is to come, as the will of God should ordain, 
I would be most heartily glad to be with you in 
body, as is also proper, and, as the fourth command- 
ment teaches, by filial fidelity and service to prove 
myself thankful to God and to you. 

"Meanwhile, I pray from the very depths of my 
heart to the Father, who created you and gave you 
to me as a father, that he may according to his in- 

*This Cyriacus, mentioned already upon page 22, was a son 
of Luther's sister, who married a certain George Kauffman at 
Mansfeld. Comp. Briefe. De Wette, 6, 123 and 151. 



Luther and the Dying. 227 

finite goodness strengthen you, enlighten you by his 
Spirit and preserve you, that you may with joy and 
thankfulness know the blessed doctrine of his Son, 
our Lord Jesus Christ, to which you have already 
been called and led by his grace out of the former 
horrible darkness and error; and I hope that his 
grace, which has given you such knowledge and 
thereby begun his work in you, may preserve it 
until the end unto the joyous coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and complete it in the life which is to 
come. Amen. 

u He has already also sealed in you this doctrine 
and faith, and confirmed them by visible tokens, 
inasmuch as you have on account of my name en- 
dured, together with us, all much slander, shame, 
scorn, mockery, contempt, hatred, enmity and 
danger. But these are the genuine marks, in bear- 
ing which we are to be made like our Lord Christ, 
as St. Paul says (Rom. viii. 29), in order that we 
may also bear the image of his future glory. 

"Let your heart therefore be hale and strong in 
the midst of your weakness, for we have in the life 
yonder before God a sure and faithful helper, Jesus 
Christ, who for us has slain death, together with all 
sins, and now, in order that we may have no care 
nor fear that we may sink and perish, sits there 
upon his throne, and with all the angels looks down 



228 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

upon us, waiting to receive us when we take our de- 
parture from this life. He has so great power over 
death and sin that they can do us no harm ; and he 
is so sincerely true and faithful, that he neither 
can nor will forsake us, if we really desire his aid. 

" He has declared, promised and pledged it. He 
will not and cannot lie nor deceive us. We can 
have no doubt about it. 'Ask,' says he (Matt. vii. 
7), 'and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; 
knock and it shall be opened unto you.' In another 
place he declares (Acts ii. 21): 'All that call upon 
the name of the Lord shall be saved' ; and the whole 
Psalter is full of such consoling promises, espe- 
cially the 91st Psalm, which is a particularly good 
Psalm for all the sick to read. 

"I have wanted to write these things to you, be- 
cause I have felt anxious about your sickness, as 
we do not know when our hour may come, in order 
that I might have a share in your faith, your con- 
flict, your comfort, and your thankfulness to God 
for his Holy Word, which he has in these times so 
richly, powerfully and graciously given to us. 

"But should it be his divine will that you, de- 
prived yet longer of the blessedness of that better 
life, should suffer further with us in this troubled 
and unhappy world of woe, seeing and hearing, or, 
rather, with all Christians helping to bear and over- 



Luther and the Dying. 229 

come its misery; he will give you grace to accept 
all this with cheerful obedience. This accursed life 
is after all nothing but a real vale of tears, in 
which the longer we live the more must we see 
and experience of sin, wickedness, Vexation and 
misfortune ; and all this will never end nor grow 
less until the ground is shoveled upon us. There, 
at least, it must end, and suffer us, resting in Christ, 
to sleep in peace until he shall come to awaken us 
again with rejoicing. Amen. 

"Herewith I commend you to him who loves 
you more than you can love yourself, and who has 
proved this love in that he has taken your sin upon 
himself and atoned for it with his own blood, and 
has announced this to you through the gospel, and 
through his Spirit granted you grace to believe it, 
and has thus most securely prepared and sealed 
everything, in order that you need have noth- 
ing more to care for nor to fear, but only with a 
firm and fearless heart remain steadfast in his 
Word and faith. Let this be so, then leave all 
care to him. He will do all things well; yea, he 
has already done all things for the very best, far 
better than we can understand. May he, our dear 
Lord and Saviour, be ever with you, that we may 
(God grant it, whether here or in the world to come) 
with rejoicing see one another again. Our faith is 



230 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

firm, and we have no doubt that we shall shortly see 
one another again in the presence of Christ, since 
the departure from this life is in the sight of God 
a much smaller matter than it would be for me to 
come from your house at Mansfeld to this place, or 
for you to go from my house at Wittenberg to Mans- 
feld. This is most certainly true. It is only a mat- 
ter of an hour's sleep, and then all will be changed. 

"Now, although I hope that your pastors and 
preachers will so abundantly render you in such 
matters their most faithful service that you will 
have little need of my poor talking; yet I could 
not neglect to apologize for my bodily absence, 
which — God knows — gives me heartfelt pain. 

"My Katie, Little Hans, Little Lena, Aunt Lena 
and the whole household send greetings and assure 
you of their faithful prayers for you. Greet for me 
my dear mother and all our relatives. May the 
grace and power of God be and abide with you for- 
ever. Amen. 

"Your dear Son, 

" Martintjs Luther. 
"At Wittenberg, February /j, 1530." 

The dying father derived spiritual strength from 
the letter of his son. His life ebbed slowly away, 
and on the 29th of May in the same year he fell 
asleep in the Lord. 



Luther and the Dying. 231 

"When now," it is related in the Tischreden,* 
"Michael Coelius, pastor at Mansfeld, asked him 
at the last moment whether he believed every- 
thing which is taught and commended to us in 
the articles of the Christian Creed, he replied : 'He 
would be indeed a miserable fellow who would not 
believe that.' When this was afterwards reported 
to Dr. Luther, the latter said: 'That is a word 
from the old world. ' But Philip Melanchthon then 
said to Dr. Luther: 'My dear Doctor, blessed are 
they who die thus in the knowledge of Christ! ' " 

One year after his father's death, Luther's 
mother, Margaretha, was overcome with great 
weakness. It was seen that her end was near, and 
word was sent to her distant son. A letter, full of 
consolation appropriate to the dying hour, was his 
response, f 

"Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus, our Lord and 
Saviour. Amen. My dearly beloved Mother. I 
have received the letter of brother Jacob telling of 
your sickness. It grieves me deeply to hear of this, 
especially as I cannot be with you in body, as I so 
gladly would. But here I come to you bodily in 
this letter, and we will all be constantly with you 
in spirit. 

* Aurif., 500 b. Forst., 4, 276. 
f Briefe. De Wette, 4, 257. 



232 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

"But although I hope that your heart has without 
my help long since been fully instructed, and al- 
though, God be praised, you have his consoling 
Word, and are well provided with preachers and 
comforters on every hand; yet will I also do my 
part, and, as in duty bound, acknowledge myself 
as your child and you as my mother, honoring the 
relation in which the God and Creator of us both 
has placed us, and thus, at the same time, adding 
one more to the multitude of your comforters. 

"In the first place, dear Mother, God has gra- 
ciously given you the knowledge that your sick- 
ness is only his paternal and gracious rod, and a 
very light rod indeed compared with that with 
which he smites the ungodly, and often, as well, 
his own dear children. One is beheaded, another 
banished, another drowned, and so on, until they 
must all cry out: ' For thy sake are we killed every 
day, and are like sheep prepared for the slaughter. ' 
(Ps. xliv. 22.) This sickness ought not therefore 
to disturb nor to distress you, but you ought to 
accept it with thankfulness as appointed by his 
grace. Consider what a very trifling affliction it 
is, should it even lead to death, compared with the 
suffering of his own dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which he did not have to endure, as must we, for him- 
self, but which he endured for us and for our sins. 



Luther and the Dying. 233 

"In the second place, dear Mother, you know, 
too, what is the chief article of faith and the ground 
of salvation, upon which you must build up your 
comfort in this and in every hour of need, namely, 
the Corner-stone, Jesus Christ, that can never be 
moved nor fail us, nor ever let us sink or perish. 
He is truly, as he is called, the Saviour of all 
poor sinners, and of all who in the midst of distress 
and death place their confidence in him and call 
upon his name. 

"He says (John xvi. 33): 'Be of good cheer; I 
have overcome the w r orld. ' If he has overcome the 
world, then he has also most assuredly overcome the 
prince of the world and all his power. But what 
is the power of the prince of the w 7 orld, if it be not 
death, by which he has made us subject to him and 
taken us captive on account of our sin? But, now 
that death and sin have been overcome, we may 
hear with joy and confidence the sweet word: ' Be 
of good cheer; I have overcome the w T orld.' 

"We should have no doubt at all, but should be- 
lieve that this is most certainly true; and it is still 
further commanded that we receive this comfort 
with joy and thanksgiving. If w 7 e should refuse 
to be comforted by these w r ords, we would w 7 rong 
and greatly dishonor the dear Comforter, just as 
though it were not true, that he bids us be of good 



234 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

cheer, or as though it were not true, that he has 
overcome the world. We would thereby strengthen 
the conquered devil, sin and death, to resist the 
dear Saviour and tyrannize again over us. From 
this may God preserve us. 

"We may, therefore, now rejoice with all secu- 
rity and joy, and if at any time any thought of sin 
or death should terrify us, we may lift up our 
hearts, and boldly say: 'Why, poor Soul, what are 
you trying to do? Why, Sin and Death, how- 
comes it that you are alive and terrifying me? 
Do you not know that you have been overcome? 
Do you not know, O Death, that you are altogether 
dead? Are you not acquainted with One who says 
of thee: U I have overcome the world?" It is not 
for me to listen to your threatenings, but to receive 
the consoling words of my Saviour: " Be of good 
cheer, be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
world." This is the true conquering hero, who 
bestows upon me his victory and makes me a par- 
taker of it in these words: u Be of good cheer." I 
hold to him. I am supported by his Word and 
consolation. Whether I tarry here or depart hence, 
he will not deceive me. You seek to delude me 
with your false threatenings and with lying 
thoughts to entice me away from this victorious 
Saviour. But it is all a lying invention, as truly 



Luther and the Dying. 235 

as he has overcome you and bidden us to be of 
good cheer. 

1 Thus, likewise, Paul also glories and defies the 
terrors of death (1 Cor. xv. 55): "Death is swal- 
lowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy 
sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?" Thou 
canst terrify and alarm, like a wooden im- 
age of death, but thou hast no power to slay. 
Thy victory, thy sting, and thy power are swal- 
lowed up in the victory of Christ. Thou canst 
show thy teeth, but thou canst not devour. God 
has given us the victory over thee through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. To him be praise and thanks- 
giving. Amen.' 

" Let your heart be occupied with such words 
and thoughts, dear Mother, and with nothing else. 
Be thankful indeed that God has led you to such 
knowledge, and has not left you sunken in the 
papal error, according to which we were taught to 
build our hopes upon our own works and upon the 
holiness of the monks, and to regard this one and 
only comfort, our Saviour, not as a comforter, but 
as a terrible judge and tyrant, so that we were 
compelled to flee from him to Mary and the saints, 
and could expect no grace nor comfort from him. 

"But now we know, upon the contrary, of the 
infinite goodness and mercy of our Heavenly 



236 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

Father, and that Jesus Christ is our Mediator 
and our Throne of Grace and our Bishop before 
God in Heaven, who daily intercedes in our behalf 
and reconciles to God all who will but believe on 
him and call upon him ; and that he is a judge, and 
terrible, to none but those who will not believe him 
nor accept his consolation and his grace. He is not 
the one who accuses or threatens us, but he recon- 
ciles and intercedes for us by his own death and by 
his blood shed for us, that we may not be afraid of 
him, but draw near to him with all confidence and 
call him: ' Dear Saviour, Thou precious Comforter, 
Thou faithful Bishop of our souls.' 

"To this knowledge, I say, God has graciously 
called you — you have his seal and certificate of 
this, namely, Baptism, the Sacrament, and the 
Gospel which is preached to you. You can there- 
fore know no danger nor want. Now, only be of 
good cheer, and give thanks with rejoicing for this 
great grace; for he who has begun his work in you 
will also graciously complete it. We cannot help 
ourselves in such matters. We can by our works 
gain no booty from sin, death and the devil. But 
here appears for us and in our place another, who 
is better able, and he bestows his victory upon us 
and commands us to accept it, nothing doubting. 
He says to us (John xvi. 33): * Be of good cheer; I 



Luther and the Dying, 237 

have overcome the world,' and again (John xiv. 
19): 'Because I live, ye shall live also,' and yet 
again (John xvi. 22): ' Your joy shall no one take 
from you.' 

"May the Father and God of all comfort grant 
you through his holy Word and his Spirit a stead- 
fast, joyous and thankful faith, that you may 
happily overcome this and every distress, and 
finally learn from your own experience the truth of 
that which he himself declares: ' Be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world.' I hereby commend 
your body and soul to his mercy. Amen. All 
your children and my Katie are praying for you. 
Some are weeping, some eating, and they say to 
one another, 'Grandmother is very sick.' The 
grace of God be with us all. Amen. 

"Your dear Son, 

"Mart. Luther. 
^Saturday after Ascension Day (May 20), 15JI." 

The earthly labors of the mother thus prepared 
for death by her son were brought to a blessed 
end on the 30th of June in the same year. 

We have seen that Luther gave to his dying 
father and mother the assurance of his faithful 
prayer in their behalf. We are able to present sev- 
eral such prayers, dictated by him to the dying, in 



238 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

order that they might by their use strengthen and 
prepare themselves to depart in peace to their 
heavenly home. 

"Christ, our dear Lord and Saviour," implored 
he at one time,* " Be gracious to us, that we may 
not fall into temptation. Preserve us in true faith, 
pure, blameless and innocent, and deliver us from 
all evil through a blessed departure from this vale 
of tears, which is the kingdom of the miserable 
devil and his world. To Thee, with the Father 
and the Holy Spirit, be praise and thanksgiving 
forever. Amen. ' ' 

At another time, heprayed:f u Dear Lord Christ, 
although I do not fulfil the law, and although sin 
is yet present with me, and I fear death and hell, 
yet I know from thy gospel that Thou hast be- 
stowed upon me all thy works. I am sure of this, 
for Thou dost not lie. Thou wilt faithfully keep 
thy promise, in token of which I have received 
baptism in thy name. Since Thou, O God, art 
mine, I will gladly die; for thus it pleaseth Thee, 
my Father, and death cannot harm me, since it is 
swallowed up in victory. Thanks be to Thee, O 
Lord God, who hast given us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 

*Werke. Walch, 14, 327. 
f Ibid., 21, 287. 



Luther and the Dying. 239 

Upon a third similar occasion, lie spoke thus:* 
"Almighty, eternal God, merciful Lord and God, 
who art the Father of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, 
I know assuredly that Thou wilt and canst do all 
that Thou hast promised, for Thou canst not lie and 
thy Word is sure. Thou didst in the beginning 
promise to me thy beloved, only Son Jesus Christ, 
and he has come and has delivered me from the 
devil, death, hell and sin, and then, for my greater 
security, of his gracious will granted me the sacra- 
ments of the altar and of baptism, in which are 
offered to me the forgiveness of sins, eternal life 
and all heavenly possessions. In accordance with 
this thine offer to me, I have employed the sacra- 
ments, and have received them, depending in 
steadfast faith upon thy Word. I have, therefore, 
now no doubt that I am safe and well secured 
against the devil, death, hell and sin. If this be 
my appointed hour, according to thy holy will, I 
will gladly depart hence in peace and joy, depend- 
ing on thy Word. Amen. ' ' 

We will observe the dear man of God as he 
stands by the death-beds of two persons in his own 
house. An aunt of his wife, who had years before, 
in the convent of Nimbsch, treated her younger 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 501 a. Forst., 4, 278. Comp. Aurif., 
326 a. Forst, 3, 153. 



240 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

relative with the greatest kindness, had been taken 
by Luther into his house as a member of the family. 
She was called "Aunt Lena" by old and young. 
This "honorable matron" lay seriously sick in 
1537. Her senses had already become dull, when 
the father of the household approached her bed, 
addressing her thus:* "Aunt Lena, do you know 
me, and can you understand me?" Seeing that 
she understood and recognized him, he said to her: 
"Your faith still rests entirely and alone upon the 
Lord Christ, does it not? He is the resurrection 
and the life. Nothing shall keep you from him. 
You shall not die, but fall asleep as in a cradle, 
and when the morning dawns, you shall rise again 
and live forever. ' ' Then she exclaimed, ' ' O yes ! ' ' 
The Doctor then asked her: "Is there no trouble 
on your mind?" "No," replied she. "And do you 
have no pain at all?" "Yes," said she, "I have a 
pain at my heart." Then said he: "The Lord will 
soon deliver you from all evil; you will not die ! " 
and, turning to us, he said: " O, how well it is 
with her! This is not death, but a sleep !" He 
then went to the window and stood for a little time 
alone praying, and at twelve o'clock withdrew 
from the room. At seven o'clock the same even- 
ing she very gently fell asleep in Christ. 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 325 b. Forst., 3, 153. 



Luther and the Dying. 241 

A sweet little daughter of Luther's, named Mag- 
daleua, after this same Aunt Lena, who had been 
sick-nurse in the convent from 1502 until 1508, and 
had turned her experience and skill to good ac- 
count in her niece's home, lay seriously sick. " I 
love her dearly, but if it is thy will, O God, to take 
her from us, I will be glad to know that she is 
with thee."* Thus the pious father quiets his 
troubled heart, and then says to his beloved child : 
"Dear little Magdalena, my daughter, you would 
gladly stay here with your father, and yet you are 
glad to go to your Father in Heaven, are you 
not?" She said: "Yes, my dearly beloved father, 
as God will." "Then," said the father, "you 
dear little daughter, the spirit is willing, but the 
flesh is w 7 eak," and, turning away, he said, " O, 
but I do love her. If the flesh is so strong, what 
must the spirit be?" "Dear daughter," said he 
again after a little while, f "you have another 
Father in Heaven, you are going to him." As the 
final struggle drew near and she was just at the 
point of death, "the father fell upon his knees be- 
fore her bed, wept bitterly, and prayed that God 
might release her. She died thus, falling asleep in 
her father's arms. Her mother was also in the 

* Tischreden. Aurif., 496 a. Forst., 4, 260. 
flbid. Aurif., 496 a. Forst, 4, 261. 
16 



242 Luther as Spiritual Adviser. 

same room, but standing farther from the bed, over- 
come with grief. This occurred a little after nine 
o'clock on the Wednesday following the 17th Sun- 
day after Trinity (Sept. 20), 1542. ' ' Observing that 
his wife was now overwhelmed with grief, weeping 
and crying, Luther said to her: "Dear Katie, re- 
member whither she has gone! She has gone to a 
better world ! It is but natural that flesh and blood 
should bleed and groan; but the spirit bows sub- 
missively. Children do not dispute. They believe 
what is said to them. To them everything is plain 
and simple. They die without anxiety or regret, 
without murmuring, without any fear of death, 
without bodily pain, just as though they were fall- 
ing asleep."* When the friends came to assist in 
preparing the body for burial, and addressed the 
Doctor in the customary way, assuring him that 
they sympathized with him in his affliction, he 
said: "You ought to rejoice with me! I have 
sent a saint to Heaven, yes, a living saint. O, 
that we might have such a death ! Such a death I 
would welcome this very hour."f 

*Tischreden. Aurif., 495 b. Forst. 4, 258. 
t Ibid. Aurif., 496 b. Forst, 4, 262. 



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